Songs to Live and Die By
by Fantastical394
Summary: After saving Maggie and Glenn, Nicole gets a chance to start over with a new group. She's Shane's sister, Rick's friend, deadly with a crossbow and never lets anyone know how to get under her skin. That is, until she meets a certain crossbow wielding survivor that's just as closed off as she is. Will she ever really be a part of this group? Or is she as expendable as she thinks?
1. Chapter 1

**Alright guys. This is my first TWD FanFiction, so please be nice. Now, I know Daryl/OC FanFiction is super common and cliche and stuff like that, but I don't care. I love my OC. She's spunky, awkward, and practically the female version of Daryl. Plus, this ain't all romance. This is a story of change, of family, of loss, of happiness, and of music in a desolate world. I really hope you guys give this a shot because I have so many plans for what to do with this story.**

 **ease leave a review. Reviews are what help the story gets better, what keep my creative juices flowing, and what keep me motivated. Even if a review is bad, I will never ever complain. All forms of feedback are wonderful, no matter if they are good or bad.**

 **please forgive all of my grammatical and spelling errors. I am so ditzy!**

 **Enjoy! - Olivia**

 _"I'm still alive but I'm barely breathing. Just praying to a god that I don't believe in."-Breakeven, The Script_

"Shit." I hissed as I narrowly escaped from a hungry walker that was attempting to take a chunk out of my leg. I swung my axe quickly behind me, decapitating the walker with one, swift stroke. God, I was getting absolutely sick of these things.

I ran down the street, looking behind me every few feet to make sure I wasn't being followed. I passed building after building, trying to pick a place where I could hide out for a night. There was Hatlin's, which was a bar, a grocery store, a boutique, a pharmacy, and another small store. There were a few abandoned cars scattered about the street. This place had been abandoned quickly. It made for a pretty good hideout.

I've been on my own, almost from the beginning. For a the first two weeks, I had been with a small group of people that I went to college with. We had all been about to graduate Georgia Tech before it all went to shit. When things started popping up on the news and everything went downhill, we naturally stuck together. I think it's a natural instinct, the need to be together, the need to have people around you. And we were doing well. We had all piled in vans and planned to drive to Atlanta. There was a refugee camp there, or at least, there was supposed to be. We were halfway there when we heard that it was overrun. After that, well, that's when it really got bad.

First, we ran out of gas. All of us, all three of our vans. We packed all we had into our bags and fled into the woods. Then, after our food ran out, things went from bad to worse. Members of our group started getting spooked, started freaking out about everything that was going on. They got loud, and reckless. That attracted walkers.

And then, it happened. The massacre. Hordes of walkers began to attack us, spilling out of the woods like a deadly swarm. We weren't ready. People were screaming, blood was everywhere. Guns shot blindly. I fired my crossbow straight at their heads, wincing as the arrow pierced their heads with a sickening crack. I simply swallowed my fear and kept shooting, shaking as my friends dropped all around me. It went on like this for what felt like hours, but turned out to be only mere minutes. Before I knew it, everything was silent, except for the quiet moaning of my friends as they all slowly succumbed to their injuries. I was the only one left standing.

So I did what had to be done. I ended it. I ended it for all of them. I waited for each one to pass out before I swung my axe, splitting their skulls with one swift blow. I killed them. All of them. Quickly and quietly. No muss. No fuss. I killed my friends because I loved them.

After that, I just picked up my axe and my bow and started walking. And walking. And I never looked back.

That's how I wound up in a rinky dink little town malnourished, dehydrated, and all alone.

I peaked into the small store, listening for any walkers that could possibly be hiding. It was dead silently. Quickly, I walked in and shut the door behind me, sliding down onto the floor with my back against the wall. I groaned as my back popped painfully. I rested my head on the wall and closed my eyes. This was as good of a place as any to rest. My eyelids felt heavy as they slowly closed over my dark blue eyes. I heard faint music playing in the back of my head, pulling me into sleep.

" _Come on Nikki!" My brother screamed at me, his bright red bike helmet flashing in the sunlight. He was about twenty feet ahead of me. He had always been a better bike rider than I was, and the fact that he was older than me didn't help._

 _"Stop making fun of me!" I yelled back in my high pitched voice. I was panting, trying to keep up with him. I could never keep up with him, and I never let myself forget that._

 _"Whatever Nicole!" He laughed, turning and riding even faster up the hill, disappearing straight into the setting sun. I rolled my eyes and pedaled faster, trying to catch up. But, when I got to the top of the hill, I stopped._

 _Everything I could see was terrible. The buildings were falling apart in front of me. Dead, mutilated bodies littered the ground. The undead stumbled around aimlessly, groaning and moaning for food, for human flesh._

 _And, at the top of the hill, stood the most terrifying sight of all. My brother, still in his helmet, staring at me. Only, it wasn't him. Before me stood the walker that used to be my brother. My breath hitched and I choked back a sob. And then he started walking, right towards me. I tried to move out of the way, but my legs felt like lead. I couldn't move. He was coming up on me, and there was nothing I could do to stop him. This was it. This was how I was going to die._

I woke up with a start, my entire body jolting up. My axe hit the ground with a soft thud as it fell from my lap. The music was gone. I had been dreaming. It was the same dream that I had had every single night since my friends died. It was terrifying and stiffening, and I think what makes it so horrifying is the fact that it could be true. My brother could be a walker right now. And I would have no idea.

I was about to close my eyes again when I heard it. A scream. It was a woman's scream, coming from the pharmacy next door. My blood turned to ice. There was a woman next door. Another yell followed, this time a male's. There were two people next door. I haven't seen people in weeks. I didn't know what to do.

They kept screaming and yelling, which I knew was attracting walkers here. They were going to find them, to find me really soon. I had to do something.

"Maggie!" The man yelled. They sounded like they were in trouble. They needed help.

And at that moment, I made a decision, a decision that would change the rest of my life completely. I decided right then to go in and help them. I didn't have anything to lose. Might as well do some good before I go.

I launched myself up from my sitting position, slinging my bow off of my shoulder, knocking an arrow. It had become a sort of habit for me now. I ran out the door of the store and turned left, towards the pharmacy next to me. I could hear grunts and growls coming from the inside. Oh yes, there was definitely a fight going on in there.

Forcefully, I kicked the door open, aiming my bow. There was a walker right there in front of me, and without hesitation, I shot it in the skull. I ran into the store and started shooting at all of the walkers in my sight. There were at least a dozen of them. I heard grunting next to me and knew that one of the other people was taking on a walker. As one closed on on me, I reached for my axe at my side. My axe and my bow were my favorite weapons, although I did enjoy my guns as well. Over the past few weeks, I had become quite skilled at nearly all manners of weaponry. I put my axe through one walker's skull, then pulled it out with a swift yank and struck another, blood splattering on my dark jeans. I didn't care. They would just dry over the other blood stains, the blood of my fallen friends. I kept shooting and striking until they were all down. Even then, I went up to each one and struck them in the head aggressively, just in case.

Slowly, I slung my bow back over my shoulder, my axe still in my other hand. I could feel blood on my hands and arms.

"Thank you." A woman's voice said behind me. She had a thick, southern drawl. I turned around and saw her clearly for the first time. She had short brown hair and warm brown eyes. She wore a green t-shirt and a pair of worn jeans. She was beautiful. She looked me up and down. Honestly, I didn't envy her. I probably looked like absolute hell. I hadn't showered or bathed in days and I hadn't changed since the attack. Needless to say, I was a little gross.

"We would have been dead if you hadn't saved our skins." The man came and stood next to her. He had black hair and fairly tan skin. He looked Asian, maybe Chinese or Korean. He wore a worn baseball cap and a tattered t-shirt. He looked worn down, like he had been through a lot. We all had.

"It was nothing." Was all I said, fairly quietly, looking down at my feet. What was I supposed to say?

"No it wasn't." The girl disagreed, stepping forward. "You risked your life coming in here. You could have easily just let us die. But you didn't. You helped us, even though you have no idea who we are . People like that were hard to find before. Now, it's nearly impossible."

"Oh, well, you make me sound like a hero" I smiled sheepishly. I was taken aback by her straightforward kindness. "but I can guarantee you, I'm just a normal girl."

"So am I. The world needs more girls like us." The man chuckled loudly, and she elbowed him in the gut. They looked like an adorable couple. "I'm Maggie." She smiled. "This is Glenn."

"Hi." Glenn gave me a small smile. I could tell that he was just as wary of me as I was of him, but Maggie seemed unfazed.

"I'm Nicole." I said.

"Where's the rest of your group Nicole?" Maggie asked. "Were you on a supply run or something?"

"No. It's just me." I replied.

"Really?" Glenn seemed shocked.

"Yeah. They all met a rather unfortunate end a few weeks ago. I was the only survivor. Now, I'm just trying to go day to day." It was the truth. I lived day to day, no more, no less. That's what it took to survive. This seemed to surprise them. It was hard to live in this world, but to live in it alone? That was nearly impossible.

Maggie and Glenn exchanged a knowing look, one that I did not understand. I'm sure it had something to do with me, though. After a few moments, Glenn finally shrugged his shoulders and said "Fine. You have to convince the cops though." and Maggie smiled. She turned to me and gave me a kind look.

"We have a farm." She told me. "Just a few miles up the road. We have a group of about 15 of us are holed up there for the time being. You can come with us if you like."

"Oh, no. I wouldn't want to be a burden." I tried to be as polite as I could. The truth was, I didn't know if I could trust them. What if they were horrible people trying to lure me into a trap to kill me and eat me?

But then again, what if they weren't? What if they were actually just good people?

Glenn seemed to sense my apprehension. "Hey, it's cool. I get it. You don't know us. I don't blame you for being nervous. So, how about a deal? If you don't like it, or if it seems too sketchy, we will drive back and drop you off right where we found you, okay?" He offered.

I don't know if it was his sincerity or Maggie's kind smile, but something about them made me believe them. Call me crazy, but it's true. "I'm just surprised that you guys have enough faith in me to trust me so soon. ." I breathed. "Thanks." I added quickly. "I guess I'm coming with you."

"Alright, let's get our stuff and head out." Glenn nodded, walking over and grabbing a knapsack off the bloody ground. They had been here for supplies. Huh, smart people. Maggie followed suit, grabbing her own bag. I turned and began to pull my arrows out of walkers' skulls and put them back in my quiver. I couldn't afford to lose any. After a few moments, we were all set to go.

They led me outside to where their car was parked.

"Umm, I hate to be rude, but," Glenn started. "Could you put your weapons in the trunk, or with Maggie? I know it's a weird question to ask, but…"

"I get it." I nodded knowingly. ""These other people wouldn't be so open to me if I came in armed to the teeth. I get it. It's all about appearances." Glenn seemed relieved that I didn't put up a fight. I headed over to the open trunk and placed my axe, my bow and quiver, and my bag of guns in the car.

"Is that...an AK-47?" Glenn pointed towards my gun, his eyes wide.

"Yeah. I found it on a soldier in Atlanta. Figured he wouldn't mind if I took it." I told him, closing the trunk. Maggie just stared at me while Glenn kept looking at the now closed trunk. I think my gun shocked him.

After his initial fascination wore off, Glenn got in the driver's seat, Maggie rode shotgun, and I sat awkwardly in the back. Boy, I had absolutely no idea what I was getting myself into.

We rode in an uncomfortable silence. Of course we did. We didn't know each other. I was an outsider, a newbie. In this world, you never knew who to trust.

I looked out the window as we pulled into the farm's driveway. A long white picket fence wrapped around the property. Horses and cows grazed throughout the grassland. A beautiful farmhouse loomed on the horizon, it's walls a brilliant white. I had had dark green shutters and a wraparound porch. A few tents were scattered around the front lawn. There were most definitely people here. More people than I had seen in a long time.

Glenn parked the car at the end of the driveway. A group of people came down to greet them.

"Come say hello!" Maggie gave me a reassuring smile. "They're going to accept you. Trust me." I wanted to. Believe me, I wanted to, but I just couldn't. Not after what I had seen.

They got out of the car simultaneously, but I held back, my nerves freezing me in place. What if they didn't trust me? What if they thought I was lying? What if they were nuts? Well, I had already kind of ruled out the latter. Maggie and Glenn seemed pretty normal.

But still.

I could here greetings being exchanged outside. There were hugs and smiles and laughter. It made my heart ache. I had had that, once. I had had people who loved me, and waited for me to come home, who smiled at me all day. And now, now I was all alone in this hell hole. All of that had been taken away from me. It was just me now, Something they were not familiar with.

I heard Maggie say "Yeah. We barely got out of there alive."

"How did you get out?" A new voice asked. This one belonged to a man, probably an older one.

"We had a little help." Maggie said vaguely. Obviously, she wanted me to make an entrance. "Come on out."

I opened the car door slowly, my nerves still pretty frayed. Here we go. It's now or never.

I turned to face the group, and walked toward them, trying to muster up as much confidence as I could so I would not look so weak. But, I probably ended up doing the opposite.

I scanned the group quickly. They were a very diverse group, ranging quite dramatically in both age and race. Each held a weapon of some sort and looked utterly exhausted. They all looked me over with the same, distrusting stare.

Maggie walked up next to me "Everyone this is…"

"Nicole?" A voice asked from a little further away. My head snapped up so quick that I thought I had gotten whiplash. That voice. That deep, southern voice. It was one I knew, one I knew all too well. "Is that really you?"

"Oh my god." Was all I could whisper as my nerves let go, and I lurched forward, running at full speed. His arms enveloped me in a bone crushing hug. I practically melted in his arms. I didn't care that the rest of my group was looking at me like I was nuts. He was alive. My brother was alive. "Oh my god, I missed you so much Shane."

I will start every chapter with song lyrics. Let me know if you have any ideas!

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	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks to all the people who read, reviewed, PMed, followed, and favorited my story. You guys are literally the best people in the world. I know that it really takes a lot of time for stories to get traction, so if you could leave a review, that would really, really help my story take off. Seriously, you would be my favorite person in the entire world. Here's another chapter for y'all.**

 **We're to have our first Daryl and Nicole interaction next chapter. Fair warning, Nicole is a bit oblivious when it comes to romance, so e ready for some really funny and awkward moments between those two.**

 **Please leave a review!**

" _It's been a long time comin' since I've seen your face. I've been everywhere and back trying to replace."- Feel Again, OneRepublic_

"Oh my god. I missed you so much Shane."

I could feel his warm breath on my neck as I nestled closer into him. He smelled like a campfire, a smell which I had always found comforting. His arms pulled me closer. Hot tears pooled in the corners of my eyes. My brother and I had never been emotional people, especially not with each other, but that didn't seem to matter right now.

"Nikki." He breathed quietly. "Nikki, I thought you were dead."

I pulled back, resting my hands on his shoulders, which was awkward, considering he was over 6 feet and I was about 5'4 I took a moment to examine his face. He had shaved his black, curly hair, and there were many cuts and bruises visible on his scalp. He had been in a struggle not long ago. His dark brown eyes were tired, but firm as he examined me the same way I was examining him. Yes, he looked different, but this was still most definitely my big brother.

"You look like hell." He said finally, his voice grainy.

"So do you." I retorted, shoving his shoulders a little. Always the charmer, my brother. He grunted at this, a small glimmer of, was that annoyance? in his eyes. "I can't believe I found you. I thought that-"

"Nikki?" Another voice called my name, drawing my attention behind me. I scanned the area until my eyes found the culprit. His curly brown hair was windblown and his shirt was covered in mud, but I could recognize that face anywhere.

"Rick!" I cried, running towards him. He ran too, meeting me halfway. He swallowed me in another hug, picking me up an inch or two off the ground and spinning me around. "Rick!" I laughed. "Put me down!" He did as I said, setting me down gently.

"Is it really you?" He asked, putting his hands on my face, as if he was trying to prove to himself that I was real. I grabbed his hands and slowly pulled them away.

"Yes. It's really me." I nodded. "And you, my friend, look really good for a man that I thought was dead."

"What can I say? I always look good!" He joked, his eyes crinkling as a smile spread across his tanned face. Even with the apocalypse, he still had the same terrible sense of humor. Classic Rick.

"Uh, ahem?" Someone behind us said loudly, capturing our attention.

"What's happening here?" An older man in a pair of suspenders asked. His hand was on Maggie's shoulder. I finally took the time to look at al, the people in front of me. There were two women and five men, not including Rick and Shane. Nearly every single one of them held some sort of a weapon, none of them as nice as mine, but still quite deadly. They were all tense, with their hands on their weapons, as if they were waiting for me to go crazy and start attacking them. I couldn't blame them. I felt the same way about them, except I had left my weapons in the car.

"This is Nicole." Rick said, pulling me forward so I was standing next to him.

"She's my sister." Shane added, planting self on the other side of me. Everyone looked back and forth between the two of us, trying to figure out if this was the truth or not. If I didn't know any better, this seemed to make them a little more wary of me. To be honest, Shane and I looked nothing alike, and our personalities were not that similar either. He was stubborn, confident, and straight forward. I was more reserved, less willing to put myself out there, especially in front of people that I don't know.

"Huh." Was all the old man said, looking me over. I smiled slightly, looking awkwardly at my feet. "Another one of your people on my farm,"

"I don't have to stay." I said quickly, suddenly feeling very guilty about my presence. This world was every man for himself. The last thing they needed was another mouth to feed. "I'm just glad that my brother is okay, and that Rick's okay. You can send me on my way any time you like. I would completely understand. I've survived on my own this long. I can survive some more."

"Don't be stupid Nicole." Maggie stepped forward, closer to me. "You saved my life. You saved Glenn's life. You had no reason to, but you did, and now you found your family. That has to be a sign that you were meant to be here. You're not leaving. Not if I have anything to say about it."

Her kindness startled me, but it didn't completely change the way I felt. "No. I don't want to be a burden to you. This is your farm, not mine."

"And here on my farm," the old man spoke up. "here we take in strays. Especially the ones that save my daughter's life." He gestured to Maggie, who nodded in agreement. So she was his daughter. Huh.

"You're staying Nicole." Shane told me firmly. His voice was hard, like he was ordering me instead of persuading me. It was slightly scary. He was holding my wrist really tightly. "You're staying. You here me?"

"What he means is, you're welcome here Nicole." Rick interjected, trying to cut through the intensity my brother was radiating. I was glad for it. Shane had started to make me a little nervous. I guess that's just how people get when only one member of their family remains. "We could use someone like you. Please, stay."

I looked around at the people in front of me. They still had their hands on their weapons, but the generally looked much more relaxed than they had a few minutes ago. Could I trust these people? Truthfully, I didn't know. I had never been good at letting people get close to me. Every time I did, they were ripped from me. So close, yet so far away. It was just easier to keep everyone out. Then again, I had a better shot at survival with them than I did on my own. Maybe this was worth a shot.

"Alright." I nodded finally. "I'll stay, as long as I'm not in the way."

"Of course you're not." Maggie waved her hand dismissively, walking up to me and grabbing my shoulder. "Now let's get you cleaned up. I have some clothes that could fit you and we have a working shower. You smell like you could use it." She stuck her nose up in the air, and sniffed over dramatically. I rolled my eyes and she giggled, grabbing my arm. I tried to walk away, but Shane still had a strong grip on my arm. I tried to pull away, but he wouldn't let me go.

"Shane. Shane, let me go." I said. He just stared at me blankly. "Shane!" He blinked suddenly, shaking his head, like I snapped him out of a trance of sorts.

"Oh." He said quietly, letting me go.

I pulled my wrist away quickly, trying to hide my skin. I didn't want him to know that he had bruised me. It was so out of character for him, but it was just an accident. Right?

Maggie led me up to the house. It was a cute building, with faded white paneling, green shutters, and porch lights. The inside was rustic looking. It was obvious that all lot of people came and went in here. Muddy boot prints were visible in the carpet. Jackets lay strewn about the couches and chairs. I could smell something cooking in the kitchen. Involuntarily, my stomach growled quite loudly. I hadn't eaten proper food in a few days.

"Guess we know what you should do after you shower." Maggie smiled. "Come into the kitchen. There's some more people to meet." More? Really? There were a lot more people here than I had expected.

She led me into the small kitchen. The floor was a dirty, white tile and the cabinets were the same. Some kind of meat was cooking in a crockpot. It smelled like pure heaven. Two women were cooking in there. One was a tall woman with short gray hair. The other was a thin woman with long brown hair. Her dark eyes were focused on the bowl she was stirring. They didn't seem to notice our presence. But I still saw them. And I knew exactly who she was.

"Wow Lori." I said suddenly. "I didn't know you could cook."

The brunette looked up suddenly, her spoon clattering out of her hand. She brought her other hand up to her mouth, looking absolutely stunned.

"What the….." She stuttered, stepping closer to me.

"You weren't expecting to see me in the doorway, were you?" I asked jokingly.

"Nicole." She shook her head, hugging me fiercely. "You little bitch." She laughed. She pulled away, looking me up and down. "What are you doing here?"

"She saved my life at the pharmacy. Mine and Glenn's." Maggie said. Lori looked over at her, and the two shared a look that I didn't know the meaning behind. I was sure there was a much larger story behind it.

"I'm sorry." The gray haired woman interjected. "Who are you?"

"I'm Nicole. Shane's little sister." I tried to give what I thought was a kind smile. I'm not sure if it worked, though.

"Really?" She cocked an eyebrow.

"Yeah. She lived with Shane, so she's always been like family to us. Nicole, this is Carol." Lori pointed to the other woman.

"Hi." Carol nodded.

Lori smiled, wiping a tear from her eyes. "God, it's good to see you."

"You too. I thought you were dead. I thought Rick was dead. I thought Shane was dead. I thought you were all dead. But here you are. Alive as ever." I shook my head.

"Carl's here too." She said softly, putting a hand on my shoulder.

My heart beat a little faster. "Really? He's okay too?" Even though I was about ten years older than him, Carl and I had always been really close. I was his babysitter. I drove him to school, I went to all of his baseball games. He was like the little brother I never had. I had watched him grow up. I had helped raise him. Knowing that he was here, it made me a little bit more at ease.

"Well, okay is a relative term." Lori said quietly. The color drained from my face. Oh god. What happened? Lori seemed to sense my apprehension though, so she quickly added "He's okay Nikki. He's okay. He was just, accidentally shot. That's all."

"He was what?" I said a little too loudly.

"It was an accident. He's okay. Hershel fixed him up. He's fine now. He's just resting upstairs." She stroked my arm gently.

"Hershel?" I asked.

"My dad." Maggie explained. "He's a veterinarian. Not a people doctor, but close enough." I nodded. He was okay. Carl was okay.

"Can I see him?" I asked Lori.

"Why don't you clean up a little first?" She smiled. I blushed a deep crimson. "He'll be there when you're done, and uh, you look like you could use it."

"I smell like it too." She laughed at this. "Hey Lor, I really am glad to see you." I squeezed her shoulder before turning around.

I barely heard her whisper "Glad someone wants to see me." I had no idea what she meant by that, so I decided to let it go.

Maggie led me to the bathroom on the main level. I almost cried when I saw that they had working hot water. "Wait here." She said, before running out of the room. She came back in a minute later with a stack of clothes in her hand. "These should fit you pretty well." She handed them to me.

"Thank you Maggie." I smiled. "For everything. Your kindness and hospitality is undeserved and unawarrented, but completely appreciated. There aren't enough good people left."

"Hey, that's what I do." She shrugged. "Come out and get some food when you're done." I nodded as she left me alone in the bathroom. Slowly, I peeled the clothes off of my body. Yeah, peeled is the right word. I had been wearing these for so long that I thought they might have melted onto me. I winced as I pulled my tattered shirt over my head. I slipped off my bloodstained pants and then took off my undergarments, until I was standing there in front of the mirror, completely naked.

I examined myself in the mirror. They weren't lying. I looked like shit. My blonde hair was tinted red with blood and stuck to my face and neck in large clumps. My face was covered I scrapes and bruises from where branches had hit me. Deep purple bags hung under my blue eyes. My feet were red and had blisters on them. My hands were rubbed raw. I cringed when I saw my midsection. My abdomen was covered in dried blood, blood that had soaked through my shirt. The large cut on my side was a sickly green color. I had gotten that when one of my friends accidentally sliced me during the attack. I could count every single one of my ribs. I was scarily pale and deadly thin. I looked like a ghost, like the bloodied shell of the person I used to be. If I had seen me from far away, I would have thought that I was a walker.

I stepped in the small shower and winced as the hot water hit my body. I just stood there for a few moments, breathing in and out. I absentmindedly touched my wrist. There was a purple bruise forming there, where Shane had grabbed me.

I was worried about him. He seemed...different. Things were definitely strained between him and Rick. The looks they had shared were hard and angry. Something had happened. But now was not the time to worry about it.

For now, I just closed my eyes and let the water cleanse my past. I heard another song playing in my head. I let the music fill my mind, pulling me away from reality. God, I love music. It's the best way to escape reality.

That was something I really needed nowadays.

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	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks to all of my followers and favoriters. You guys rock! I hate OCs that are instantly adored by all the group and instantly trusts everyone and such, so I decided that their first meeting would be a little different than normal. Please, please, please enjoy! And please review!**

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\- Daryl's POV-

" _It's not surprising, words were few. And realizing, I was deep in my point of view." - Points of View, Squeeze_

I slung my bow over my shoulder, grumbling to myself. Another day of searching, another day of coming up empty handed. It had been weeks since Sophia had disappeared. And yes, I knew, I knew that the odds of us finding her were getting smaller and smaller every day. Believe me, Officer Asshat never let me forget about that. But I wasn't about to give up on her. Not yet,

I trudged out of the woods, my boots covered in mud. The camp was bustling with life. Dale sat on top of the RV, binoculars hanging around his neck, keeping watch. Carol was hanging clothes to dry out in the sun. Lori was beside her, washing dirty clothes in a bucket of soapy water. Hershel's daughter Beth was feeding the horses, with the help of Patricia. Officer Friendly and Officer Asshat were nowhere to be seen. _Probably arguing about Lori again_ , I thought.

I saw a flash of blonde hair next to the well. _Andrea_ , I thought. I decided to head over towards her, see what kind of stick was up her ass today. There was always something bothering that chick, I was never sure though. She would be a pretty hot chick if she wasn't so crazy.

"Hey Andrea-" I started, getting closer to the well. The woman looked up, and I stepped back. Not Andrea. I grabbed my bow, loading an arrow before the woman had a chance to move. "Who the hell are you?" I hissed.

She just looked me up and down, her arms crossed at her chest. She fairly young, probably in her early 20s, with long blonde hair and dark blue eyes. There were faded bruises along her hairline and a small scar on her upper lip. She wore tan cargo pants, a black tank top, and an army green vest. She was really short and petite, making her appear less threatening, but her eyes told a different story. She stood there in silence.

"I said who the hell are you?" I got closer, raising my bow up even higher, so it was at her eye level. She looked at the bow, then back at me. She seemed completely unfazed. She opened her mouth to respond, but was cut off by someone running over. It was Maggie, the farmer's daughter.

"Hey Nicole. I was lookin for ya!" She smiled at the mystery girl. She then turned and looked at me, obviously just realizing my presence. Her eyes were wide when she saw my crossbow aimed at the woman. "Woah. Woah. There's no need for that!" She put her hands up, using one to gently push the bow down.

"Ya know this girl?" I asked, hesitantly lowering my bow, only slightly, though.

"Yeah. Daryl, this is Nicole." She gestured to the woman. Nicole gave me a small nod. Maggie turned back to me. "Glenn and I met her in town. She saved our lives."

I grunted, rolling my eyes. "And you thought it was a good idea to bring a stranger back? What will Rick say? More importantly, what will Shane do?" I knew Shane. He was hot-headed and stubborn. Anyone who threatened his life in any way, he would sooner cut them loose then take them in. And I was not about to deal with that.

"Number 1, Dixon, this is not Rick's farm, or Shane's. It's mine. It's my fathers. And we have final say on who lives here. We do." Maggie snipped, getting closer to me. I looked at her, surprised. I had barely heard her speak, let alone confront someone. This was a new side to the cowgirl. "And, as for Shane, I'm pretty sure he's okay with her being here."

"How the hell would you know?" I raised my bow a little more, aiming it at Nicole, who still, surprisingly, seemed unfazed by this whole encounter, she had some balls.

"She's his sister." Maggie said. I looked back and forth, between Maggie and the woman. Shane's sister? Slowly, I lowered my bow, taking the arrow out, still keeping an eye on Nicole. She looked nothing like her brother, but that didn't mean anything.

"Really?" I cocked an eyebrow, carefully pulling my bow over my shoulder. "Lord help us all." I chuckled, groaning internally. The last thing we needed was another Walsh running around this camp. I looked at her again. She still stood there, her arms folded over her chest, her eyes blank. She still hadn't said a word.

Maggie turned towards her. "Carl's awake. That's why I came to get you. Figured you could surprise him." She said. Nicole nodded, giving a small smile, the first ounce of emotion she had showed so far. Shooting one more glance in my direction, Nicole walked off towards the house.

"You always make quite the the first impression, don't you?" Maggie joked before turning and following her. I just stood there, a little wary. That girl. There was something off about her. Something about the way she stood, about how she looked right at my bow without flinching, or the way she held herself steady. It made her seem like she knew something you didn't, that she had done something she shouldn't have. I had met people like that in my old life. People like that, you learned instantly to never trust.

I didn't care if she was Shane's sister, Carl's friend, Maggie's friend.

Nicole Walsh was going to have to earn my trust, one way or another.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"And I thought you were a weapons junky." I heard Rick chuckled from up the hill. I had been skinning squirrels down by the woods. I used to do it by the camp, but apparently Andrea found it unsavory, so I had relocated to the tree line. Laying my squirrels down in the bucket we used for stewing, I walked up the hill.

"I am." Shane answered. When I reached the top, I saw that the two were standing next to a worn picnic table, looking at something on the top. I was curious, so I put my bucket down by the fire before joining them.

"What's goin- Holy shit." I muttered, standing next to the two cops. Looking down, I saw what they were examining. It was a blue duffel bag, full of weapons. I mean full. On top there were two AK-47s, and two other machine guns, although I wasn't sure what type they were. There were four smaller handguns, dozens of cases of ammo, an axe that looked as if it had seen a lot of action, and enough knives to stock a giant steakhouse. This was an arsenal, and a pretty damn impressive one at that. "Where did ya find this?"

"It's Nicole's." Rick explained, his eyes wide. Is topped moving, turning towards him.

"What?" I looked at him. These all belonged to that girl? "Where the hell did she get it?"

"Yeah. That's what we want to know." Shane answered this time, his hand running over the AK-47 greedily, like he was about to take it. "I'll have to ask her, later."

"Where's the rest of her group?" I asked the obvious question If she was this armed, I was a little apprehensive to see what the rest of her group was like. Meeting them on a dark night wouldn't be the best thing. "Because if they're all armed like this…"

"She doesn't have one." Rick said. "She's been on her own for weeks. I think she had a group at the beginning, but now…. I know Nicole. She's smart. She's not much of a people person, but she's not dumb. She know's that there's safety in numbers. She wouldn't just leave her group. Either something bad happened, or she never had a group to begin with. She's definitely alone." The way Rick said it, it made sense, but I still refused to completely believe that she was on her own. I still didn't trust her.

Shane was still staring possessively at the guns, and Rick seemed lost in thought, so I turned and walked away, heading towards Carol. Unlike the other people in this camp, she was the only one who didn't annoy the living shit out of me. She understood that I liked my space. She got why I put my tent so far away from the others, why I preferred to work alone, and she didn't get on my nerves. She smiled slightly when I approached, hanging a shirt on the clothesline with shaky hands. Her hair was longer than it had been at the beginning, like mine was. Her blue shirt was faded and her jeans were torn at the knees. We all looked that way, though. Everything we owned was either faded, ripped, or stained, usually with walker guts. We did laundry out of habit more than necessity. Plus, it gave Caroll something to do, to take her mind off of the elephant in the room.

"I looked near the old bike path." I said plainly. She just nodded solemnly. We never liked to say Sophia's name. It made it too difficult, but I could tell that Carol was beginning to have the same doubts that I was. It had been weeks since Sophia disappeared. Neither of us wanted to say it, but we both knew the truth. It was very likely that she was gone, but we weren't leaving until we had proof. "No trail."

The woman looked down at her feet. "Thanks for trying." She said solemnly.

"Yeah, well, all I did was try." I shrugged, trying to make it seem like less of deal than she was making it out to be. I hadn't actually done anything yet. "But hey, I'll find 'er. You just wait. You'll see." I clapped her lightly on the shoulder, before turning again, this time towards the camp. I heard her sigh as I walked away, her head slumped. I felt bad for Carol. We weren't so different, me and her. Sure, a I had an abusive father and she had an abusive husband, but in the end, we were both victims. Victims that hid their feelings from the world. It was easier that way. Way easier.

I trudged up the hill, my knees popping as I went. I saw my bucket next to the fire. I looked around for Andrea. When I didn't see her anywhere near, I decided to finish skinning them. I sat on a lawn chair and pulled out my knife, taking a squirrel out of the bucket. Call me insane, but I actually liked skinning animals. It was kind of relaxing. For a moment, I wasn't at this camp. It wasn't the fucking apocalypse. No walkers were tryin ta' eat me every other minute. For a moment, I was back home, skinning my haul after a long day of hunting in the backwoods, all by myself. Those were the best days.

I barely even noticed how quickly the time went by until I finished with my last squirrel and looked up. The sun had moved further west. It was at least 5 or 6 p.m. at this point. I wiped the sweat off my brow and returned it to my belt. I grabbed my bucket and set off toward the house. Like always, I was going to give my catch to the women. They always managed to cook it in a way that the others found 'more appetizing' than stewing it over a fire. Personally, I didn't give a shit how it was prepared, as long as I could eat it. But, I guess I was a people person now. Whatever the group wants.

The house was fairly quiet. They were probably all doing some sort of chore around the farm. I placed the bucket on the counter in the empty kitchen. There were no people in sight. The only sound was a woman's laugh coming from across the hall. Carl's room. Quietly, I looked in through the cracked door. Carl was lying on the bed. I was impressed with how much better he looked compared to a week ago. The color had returned to his already pale skin. He looked less exhausted than he had when I had last seen him. Behind Carol, Carl probably annoyed me the least of all the people in this group, especially the man who used to bang his mom. And no, not her husband.

He was smiling and his eyes were bright. Something had made him happy. At that moment, I realized that he was talking to Nicole. She was sitting at the foot of the bed, her hand on Carl's foot, which was under a blanket. Her other hand tucked a piece of her dirty blonde hair behind her ear.

"Of course you got shot." Nicole chuckled, shaking her head. I realized that this was the first time I had heard her speak. She had a slight southern drawl, but not much. More such a small person, she had a fairly low pitched voice, and it was a little scratchy, like she had smoked, but something told me that it was just naturally that way. It was a really, really interesting voice. "Clumsy Carl, as always."

"Says the girl who had to go to the hospital for cracking her forehead open because she tripped over a fire hydrant!" Carl retorted, laughing hysterically, pointing at her. Nicole leaned back, a hand on her chest, feigning shock.

"Carl Grimes! You promised not to bring that up ever again! That hurt like hell!" She scolded him, jokingly. Carl broke into a fit of laughter, and Nicole chuckled loudly, shoving the boy's shoulders. Obviously, these two had a very strong connection, a very deep friendship that I would never understand. Still, I didn't entirely first this woman. She was new, and all new people were was a part of life.

Slowly, I crept away from the door, not wanting to intrude anymore. As I stepped away, I could have sworn that I saw Nicole look right at me and grin.

But then again, that could have just been my imagination.

 **So, what did you think? Let me know! Please Review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**I got a lot more followers than I was expecting, so thank you so much for that! Please, please if you could leave a review, I would love you! Leave a review on any story you read, it doesn't even have to be mine, just please do it. I swear to you, if youbreview on their story, you will make their day. Every day. Every time I see a review, my day instantly gets ten times better.**

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 _"People writing songs, that voices never share. And no one dare disturb the sound of silence."- The Sound of Silence, Simon and Garfunkel_

 **\- Nicole POV-**

Silence is a virtue. It's a skill that takes practice and patience. It requires a level head. You need to pick your battles, to choose whether or not you want to speak, to open up about how you feel, to get involved. In most cases, I chose silence over words. It was safer that way.

People had always been surprised by my silence. After meeting my brother, they figured I would be the same way. Loud, brash, stubborn. But I wasn't, at least, not usually. I kept to myself most of the time, not wanting to get involved in other people's business. It was their problem, not mine. Trust me, I have enough baggage of my own.

As I stood here, staring at Lori while she ate, I couldn't help the words that were forming in my head. I am quiet, but I am not stupid. I see things. I catch onto things. I pay attention. I had only been here two days, and a few things had become painfully clear.

There was something going on between Rick and Shane. They had been best friends before this all happened. They were partners. Now, they barely spoke. And when they did, their words were forced. It was mostly Shane. He was snide and malicious. He would glare at Rick behind his back, staring daggers at him. I know my brother. He's not normally that way.

And I knew exactly why he had changed.

"So, how long were you and Shane hooking up?" I threw it out bluntly. No use in sugar coating it. If I knew one thing about Lori, it was that she would do whatever it takes to defend herself. Lori dropped her fork on her plate, turning to look at me with wide eyes. I would have laughed at the expression on her face if I hadn't been in such a serious mood.

"What the-" she turned and looked around, making sure that no one was near. We were alone by the house. "What the hell do you mean? How dare you accuse me of something like that." Her eyes were narrow, her voice like a low hiss.

"Puh-lease." I rolled my eyes, crossing my arms. "I've seen the looks you two share. You too are cold as ice to each other, but I can tell it's all because of the sexual tension. You glare at him, he glares at Rick and Rick hasn't done anything wrong!So tell me, how long have you been sleeping together?"

Lori glared at me. She stood up and walked closer to me. "You listen here Nicole. You can't just walk in here and start accusing me of things that you can't back up. A lot has happened in the past few months." She snapped. "Things...transpired."

"Yet, you haven't denied it yet." I smirked. "So tell me, how long?"

She looked down at her feet, knowing that she wasn't going to convince me otherwise. After a moment, she spoke. "Since it all started, right before Atlanta was bombed."

"While your husband was in a coma." I added. Rick was my friend. I had known him since I was about 12, when Shane became my legal guardian. He was an amazing friend, and I didn't take kindly to one of my friends being lied to, even if the lying was being done by one of my other friends. I was going to protect him.

"You listen here." She whispered in a deadly tone. "I thought he was dead. To me, he was gone forever. And, as soon as Rick came back, I ended it. Okay? I ended it. I'm not some cheating whore. It's over. Your brother just needs to get that through his thick skull."

"Obviously Shane's not okay with that." I rolled my eyes, twiddling my thumbs in my pockets. "He's still in love with you Lori. And he hates Rick because of it. It's not Rick's fault. It's yours. Own up to it Lori. It's up to you to fix the mess you created. Those two can't make rational decisions for the group if they're at eachother's throats." I said the last part firmly, trying to insure that Lori heard. She looked away from me, her eyes hard with emotion, looking slightly sick, and I knew she had heard my words. She knew I was right. When she didn't answer, I smiled, knowing I had one his argument.

I stood up and walked away from the stunned woman. I was a quiet person. It wasn't that I was afraid of speaking. I just chose my words carefully.

I walked over to the camp. There were people there. Dale was sitting in a lawn chair, arguing with the blonde woman, whose name I learned was Andrea. She looked pissed, and he looked exhausted. Carol was with Beth, Maggie's younger sister, who was a few years younger than me. Carl was sitting by T-Dog. Hershel had finally decided that he could rejoin the camp.

Yesterday, Rick had explained to me what was happening. He told me about waking up in the hospital, the quarry, the CDC, Sophia- the lost little girl, and how they were staying at the farm, still searching for her. Although, the only one that was really searching now was Daryl, the crossbow wielding lone wolf I had met by the well. The one who had spied on me while I was with Carl.

These people seemed nice enough, but I still didn't trust them. I was new, an outcast. My brother was a loud mouthed loose cannon. They all were expecting me to act like him.

I decided to head off into the woods, do a little hunting, maybe aid in the search for the little girl, anything to keep me occupied. If it wound up helping the group, great! Mostly, I needed to not feel useless. Rick had suggested that I help Carol with the laundry, but he quickly took it back, knowing I detested domestic tasks like that. I would much rather go hunting than clean. He knew that.

I walked over to my tent. I had set it up slightly far away from the rest of the people's. My bow was lying on the ground, just outside the door. I picked it up and swung it over my shoulder. Bows were not common weapons. Most of the time, people used guns and knives, both great choices, but there were certain times when a gun was too loud, but you were too far for a knife. That's when the crossbow came in. It was good for long range use, and almost completely silent. Plus, the ammo was reusable, unlike my guns. Luckily though, I and enough ammo to last me quite a while.

I strode down to the woods, the dry grass crunching under my boots. I breathed in the dry Georgia air. It had been so long since I had gone hunting, well, for animals anyway. I was strangely excited for the chance. When I entered the forest, I was stunned by the utter silence. No moaning, no crunching, no talking. Nothing. I was all alone.

I knelt down, getting closer to the forest floor. I saw some small tracks in the dirt, a few crushed leaves scattered around. A rabbit. My brain told me. I smiled. I was good at hunting rabbits.

I followed the trail through the forest, deeper and deeper into the trees. This little animal was not necessary for survival. It was not a matter of life and death. This animal was just something I Had to catch. I had to show myself that a few things in the world were still working. Hopefully my hunting skill was one of them.

After about ten minutes of tracking, my perfect silence was destroyed by a loud crack!

The noise came from behind me. I tensed quickly, my shoulders raised. I lifted my bow slowly, loading an arrow. The noises continued, steadily getting louder and louder. I turned slowly, my bow up, ready to shoot whatever came at me.

I can tell you, I wasn't expecting what I saw.

In front of me was none other than Daryl Dixon. He was wearing his normal getup, but he was dirty and sweaty as hell. There was a bloodstain on his pants, which meant his leg was bleeding. He was limping, and he had a little blood on his side. He was stumbling around wildly, breaking branches and scattering leaves. And, was he talking to himself?

This had me concerned. From the very little time I had seen him, and the little I had heard about him, I could tell that he was a very skilled hunter. The first rule of hunting- stay silent. He most definitely was not.

"Hey." I called softly to him. Apparently, he hadn't realized my presence, because, at the sound of my voice, he swung his bow over his shoulder and loaded an arrow in less than 3 seconds. He was looking around wildly, trying to find the source of the noise. Finally, his hard gaze landed on me.

"What are you doing out here?" He grumbled, lowering his bow. I did the same, carefully taking the arrow out.

"Figured I'd hunt a little, look for the little girl. You?" I raised an eyebrow at him.

"More of the same." He shrugged.

"You okay?" I asked. He looked at me quizzically. "Your leg. You get but?" I tensed, my grip on my u loaded bow tightening,

"Nah." He shook his head. "I'm fine. Just a little accident. I'm gonna keep lookin, if you'd do me a solid and stay out of my way." He turned to stalk off, but as soon as he took one step his leg gave and he fell to the ground. I ruchsed over to him, leaning over him.

"You sure it's nothing?" I smiled a little. Men were always trying to be so tough. Why couldn't he just admit he was hurt? I knelt down beside him, reaching for his leg. Quickly, he pulled it away. I laughed at this. "I'm not gonna kill ya, ya big wuss. I'm just gonna check it out." I grabbed his leg, keeping a strong enough hold so he wouldn't pull away. Carefully, I rolled up his pant leg, revealing a bloody...was that a stab wound? "What the hell happened?"

"Got shot with an arrow." He grunted. I cocked an eyebrow. How many people out here used bows? Not many. He was hiding something. "Fine. I accidentally shot myself with my own arrow." My eyes widened, and I had to control the urge to laugh. Big, burly, brooding, experienced hunter Daryl Dixon shot himself, with his own bow. It was so….ironic. "I fell down a hill when a walker came out of nowhere and I lost control. You happy?" I nodded, rolling the fabric back down.

"It doesn't look too deep. You may need a few stitches, but you'll be back on your feet soon enough." I stood up, wiping the dirt off my pants. "But you may need a little help getting back." I extended my hand towards him. He just stared at me like I was trying to hand him a live bomb.

"What?"

"Look man, I know you wanna act all tough guy and everything, but if you don't let me help you, you could end up seriously damaging your leg. Now, if you could swallow your pride for a few minutes, then we can get you back and put this all behind us. Okay?" That shut him right up. Reluctantly, he grabbed my hand. His eyes widened as I pulled him off the ground. I guess my strength surprised him. I wrapped an arm around his body and helped keep him up by his underarm. He let his arm rest across my body, on my shoulder.

Slowly, the two of us trudged along, neither of us knowing what to say. The silence was..awkward, to say the least. I just kept my eyes forward, focusing on the task at hand. A few times, I shot a few glances in Daryl's direction. A couple times, I caught him looking at me from the corner of my eye, every time, though, he would look away quickly,

After what seemed like hours, we hit the edge of the tree line, the farmhouse visible in the distance. In my mind, a screamed with joy. I couldn't wait for the awkwardness to be over. I saw two figures running towards us quickly. It was Rick and Shane, both having their guns raised. I let Daryl go, and he did the same to me. We had to explain what had just happened to these two.

When they finally got close to us, Rick lowered his gun, but Shane kept his up, still aimed at us.

"Get that thing out of my face." Daryl grumbled. I chuckled a little.

"Sorry," Rick spoke. "From a distance, we thought you were walkers."

"That's twice you've pointed that thing at me." Daryl motioned to Shane. "You gonna shoot me or-" A gunshot split the air, and the next thing I knew, Daryl was falling to the ground. Instinctively, I caught him by his armpits and set him down gently, his head in my lap. I examined his body for any gunshot wounds. The bullet had grazed his side, knocking him out for a moment. I sighed in relief. It wasn't deadly.

I heard screaming as Rick and Shane knelt next to me. I looked up and saw Andrea and Dale running towards us,

"Oh god is he dead?" She was screaming, her eyes wide with worry. A shotgun hung at her back. So she had shot him.

"You just grazed him." I reassured her. "He should be okay. We need to get him back to the house." Carefully, Shane grabbed Daryl's legs, and Rick and I got his head and torso.

It was at that moment that Daryl woke up. He looked around wildly for a moment, before his eyes landed on Andrea. His lips curled into a sneer.

"You crazy bitch!" He yelled. "You could have killed me. You're lucky you're such a shitty shot. You could have-" His screaming continued as we carried him towards the farmhouse. Hershel was on the porch, by the door.

"What the hell happened?" Glenn ran out to meet us with Maggie at his side.

"Andrea shot him." I grunted, readjusting my grip on his shoulder. Glenn and Maggie shared a look of utter shock before looking at Andrea, who was still screaming behind us.

"Get him inside." Hershel instructed. We did as we were told, laying him down on the bed that used to be Carl's. Carefully, Hershel removed his shirt. Daryl grimaced as the fabric brushed past his wound, but he did not say anything. He was trying to be emotionless. I only noticed because I had been watching him intently. His eyes made contact with mine, and I quickly looked away.

"He also has a puncture wound on his leg." I said, standing up. "It's not too deep, but I think it needs a few stitches. Not much bleeding, missed the nerve." The old man turned and looked at me.

"Thank you Nicole." He sounded impressed. "You have good instincts."

"I was pre-med before all this started." I explained. "Spent most summers volunteering at hospitals and clinics. I picked up a hint or two."

Hershel nodded at this. "You know how to stitch?" He asked, referring to a wound. I nodded. "Good. While I tend to this, you get the leg."

"Really?" I asked, surprised. He trusted me enough to do this? Daryl seemed surprised too, because he was looking at Hershel like he was crazy.

"You are a capable woman, and I have other matters to attend to. Do it." The way Hershel said it, I knew it was an order, not a suggestion. Patricia brought me a suture kit and gave me a reassuring nod. I took the tools in my hands.

"We're gonna go deal with Andrea." Rick said slowly, before walking out the door, followed by a silent Shane. Soon, it was just me, Daryl, and Hershel in the room. Hershel was cleaning the gunshot wounds me carefully, I got to work on sewing up his leg. If it hurt, which I knew it did, Daryl didn't let on. He just stayed silent, his eyes trained on my nimble hands, grunting occasionally.

It was then that I noticed the tattered doll in his hands.

What had he actually been doing in the woods?

Please review! You would absolutely freakin make my day!


	5. Chapter 5

**To Procrastinator- I wrote this chapter before I read your review, but it still works out. Sorry about the grammar mistakes, I am most definitely not good at catching those things. But, as for the 'inconsitencies' you saw, trust me. I knew they were there. I've seen those things from the beginning. Now, I did not know about the squirrel and the rabbit thing. I live in a rural area, but I've never been hunting a day in my life, even though a lot of my friends do. That was just a random thing. Now, with the axe, trust me. I know it's weird. But, you'll have to keep reading. There is an explanation for the axe. I had already incorporated it into the story before you asked about it. The axe is actually a storyline that I follow. You will just have to keep reading to find out all about it! With the age inconsistencies, trust me on those as well. I know it's confusing, but there is a reason for this. It will all make sense in time. Hehehehehehe. And with the hunting and tracking, those are skills she picked up, along with the axe. You will understand in due time padawan. All will come into the light. Trust me, I pay attention to what I am writing. Maybe not my grammar, but everything in my storyline has a purpose. Trust me. Thanks for reading and caring enough to review. Feel free to leave a response. But, if you want to know the answers to your questions, keep on reading!**

 **Well anyway, for all the rest of y'all- please enjoy and review!**

- **Glenn's POV-**

 _"I need another story. Somethingot get off my chest. My life gets kind of boring. I need something that I can confess." - Secrets, OneRepublic_

What is it with people and not saying exactly what they mean? Or was it just me? Was I really that obtuse when it came to human interaction?

Honestly, it was probably a little bit of both.

I now had two secrets to keep. The first one- Lori is pregnant. Yeah, you heard me. Pregnant. And she had asked me not to tell anyone. Unfortunately, that wasn't even the biggest secret of the week.

Walkers. In the barn. I stood there for a moment, processing everything I had learned in the past hour. We were sleeping next to a barn, full of walkers. Were they ever going to tell us?

And the more important question, what was I going to do?

So, I had gone to the one person with a level head around here. Dale.

And, to my surprise, he had already known about it. He had gone to confront Hershel, and learned that the crazy old man thought that the walkers were people. Really, really sick people. And he was convinced that, if he kept them locked away long enough, they would find a cure. He actually believed they could be saved.

Then we had made the executive decision to tell the rest of the group. I knew it would anger them, mostly Shane, but this problem needed to be dealt with, fast. I told Dale that it was best that I did it. Dale was already on thin ice with Shane, no need to jump on it.

There was only one other person who knew that I knew about it. And that was Maggie, the dark haired farmer's daughter with an attitude, the object of my affection, my girlfriend.

What was I going to say to her? She believed her father. She thought they were sick people. She thought she could bring them back. The truth would crush her. How was I supposed to do that?

I waged a mental war with myself as I walked towards my tent. What should I say? How should I go about it? How would they react? All questions with unclear answers.

One of the more pressing questions was when to bring it up. The past few days had been nuts. Nicole had showed up, Daryl had been shot, and he was better now, but that wasn't the point. Shane was pissed at Rick, Lori was pissed at Shane, and Rick was just trying to keep everything together for the whole group. It was all too much. They didn't need this too.

But, we had to end this, one way or another. Something had to be done.

As I got closer to my tent, a sound pulled me out of my head. It was quiet, almost not noticeable, but it was there. Was that...music? I stopped in my tracks, listening to the soft tune. Oh yeah, that was definitely music. I sighed softly. It had been so long since I had heard music. It was coming from the bottom of the hill, by the trees. Someone was singing, but who?

I followed the music down, entranced by the sweet melody. At the bottom of the hill, there was the last person I expected to be singing.

It was Nicole, the woman who had barely said ten sentences since she arrived. It took me a while to figure out what she was doing. She was splitting wood with her axe, probably for the fire. How she was strong enough to split wood, or knew the proper way to do it, was beyond me. That girl was enigma.

"Wade in the water." She sang, her voice quiet. "Wade in the water, children. Wade in the water. God's gonna trouble, the water." She picked up another log, tossing the smaller scraps on a pile.

"You have a nice voice." I said suddenly. She jolted, dropping her axe on the ground. She clutched her chest, her breathing heavy.

"You scared the hell outa me." She sighed.

"Sorry." I grinned sheepishly, twirling my thumbs awkwardly. I always said things at the wrong time. "But you do have a nice voice."

At this, I could have sworn I saw her blush, but when she caught me staring, it disappeared immediately, her face returning to an emotionless mask. "You were listening?"

"Just a little." I nodded. I saw her wince slightly. I instantly felt bad. I had just forced myself on her, making her uncomfortable. We barely knew each other, and she did not seem like the kind of person that trusted strangers easily. She was probably quite uncomfortable. To be honest, I was too. She awkwardly looked down at her feet, bending down to pick up her axe from where she had dropped it. I decided that it was time to change the subject. "Uh, what are you doing?" Smooth Glenn. What are you doing. Way to make it less weird.

"Splitting wood." She said, swinging the axe so it was resting on her shoulder. "What's it look like I'm doing?"

"I thought so." I grinned. "Where did you learn how to do it? How to split wood I mean?" I really was curious. Where did a girl like this learn her skills?

"Growing up on a farm, I guess." Nicole shrugged.

"What? I thought you lived with Shane, and he is most definitely not a farm boy." I was really confused. Had they lived on a farm?

"Shane and I are half siblings. Same dad, different mom. I lived with Shane after I turned 12." She explained, her emotions unreadable. "Before that, I lived with my mother and stepfather on a farm."

Ohh. That made more sense. "So, that's where you learned to use an axe?"

She nodded. "I split wood every morning for 4 years, from the time I was 8 years old to the time I was 12. My stepdad used to say it built character. Huh. Some character it made me." She mumbled the last part, almost inaudible.

I realized that this was the most I had spoken with Nicole since she arrived almost 4 days ago. I kind of felt like I was on a roll, so I decided to keep talking. Oh yeah, always a nice move Glenn.

"Why do you use that axe then?" I gestured to her worn weapon. It wasn't the nicest weapon. That was for sure. The handle was cracked and the blade was chipped. Dried blood covered the blade. And practical it was not. It was huge, bulky, and awkward. Why the hell did she choose to use it?

"Why do you always wear that baseball cap?" She quipped back. That took me by surprise. What did she mean? "Everybody holds onto something from their life before. They hold onto something of sentimental value. The story behind it isn't important. It doesn't matter what it is. A hat, an axe, a doll…. They're symbols of a simpler time, a better time. They're symbols of hope"

That was true. I kept my hat for personal reasons. It meant a lot to me. Apparently, her axe was the same way for her. I thought about it for a moment. It was true. Everybody had that one thing that kept them sane, that brought them back to the time when they used to be better. I pondered that, until I realized that I had been staring at Nicole. She seemed to notice too, because she quickly looked away, focusing a little too intently on her axe.

"So, uh, you split wood every morning?" I said, shifting uncomfortably. Nicole nodded again, starting to split more wood. Every swing of the axe seemed more and more forceful.

"Yeah. Every morning I would wake up, change into my work clothes, start singing a song, and head off to work." Then, she added, "I was like one of the dwarves that lived with Snow White." She laughed a little at this. I have a small chuckle.

"So uh, your stepdad worked with you?" I asked.

"Yeah. Me, and him, and Jack." She said.

"Oh, who's Jack?"I asked, cocking an eyebrow. She said nothing. "Oh come on, tell me. Your little boyfriend?" I was trying to be funny, but apparently I was not, because as soon as I said it, Nicole tensed up. Her mask of a face was cracked with emotion. With sadness. Her blue eyes were hard, and they showed her feeling of anguish. She stopped swinging her axe, letting it hang loosely in her hand.

"Some stories don't need to be told." Was all she said before she turned away, not looking up as she did so. Obviously, she was a little touchy when it came to this Jack fellow. I groaned internally. Why could I never figure out when to shut up?

"Nice going Glenn." I muttered to myself, jamming my hands in my pockets. "Way to scare the new girl." I trudged back up the hill, shaking my head at myself. When I got to the top of the hill, I saw the rest of the group gathered around the fire, and my heart sank.

I had almost completely forgotten.

The barn was full of walkers.

And I had to tell them about it.

Awesome.

I swallowed the lump in my throat, wincing slightly. Suddenly, my hands were clammy and I was sweating. This always happened before I spoke to groups. I had never been good at speaking to groups before, so I didn't know how to go about it now.

I kept walking slowly, as Carol waved me over, showing me a plate of food. Dale was there beside her, and he gave me a knowing nod as I walked by. He knew what had to be done. The whole group was here. Shane, Rick, Lori, Carl, hell, even Daryl was eating with us, which was rare.

I ate my meal slowly and deliberately, using each bite to try and decide what to say. By the time I had finished eating, Nicole had joined the group. When she passed me she looked down at her feet, trying to ignore me. She ate her meal a few feet away, like Daryl used to do when he first met the group.

After sucking on a clean fork for the fourth straight minute, I decided that it was time. I had to get it off my chest. I couldn't take it anymore.

This secret I had been carrying with me all night and all morning was exploding inside of me. It was bursting at the seams, desperate to get out. I had to do it.

"So uh," I stood up awkwardly, uncomfortable when all the gazes shifted towards me. But I swallowed and continued. "There is something I need to tell all of you."

"The barn's full of walkers."

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at me. The only sound was of T's fork hitting his plate. There was silence all around them. They were all staring with wide eyes, some terrified, some confused, most furious.

"Show us." Shane said harshly, his voice similar to a growl. I didn't want to, but the glare he was giving me was terrifying, so I nodded weakly. I turned towards the barn, and I heard everyone behind me stand up and follow me.

When we got to the dilapidated building, I stopped a few feet in front of it, but Shane kept going. He found a crack in the wall and looked through. The rest of the group came to a stop beside me, not wanting to look any closer, like they wanted it to all be some sick joke.

After a moment, Shane grunted and backed away from the wall. He was glaring. Everyone beside me tensed up. They knew it was true.

"You can't tell me you're okay with this." He said to Rick, focusing his glare on him.

"I'm not." Rick replied. "But we're guests here. This isn't our land." Andrea rolled her eyes at this, and Shane grunted. Rick was always the rational one, the one who saw the big picture. He was usually right about these kinds of things, but that didn't mean they wanted to admit it.

"This is our lives man!" Shane screamed.

"Lower your voice man!" I hissed, flinching when he turned to glare at me.

"We can't just sweep this under the rug." Andrea said.

"It ain't right." Shane snapped. He was pacing now. "We either have to go in there and make things right, or we just gotta go." He turned to Rick. "We've been talking about Fort Benning-"

"No. We can't go." Rick groaned.

"Why not?" Shane grunted.

"Because Sophia's still out there." Carol spoke up, stepping closer to the two men. Shane looked at her with wide eyes and covered his face with his hands.

"God. I think it's time we all just start to just consider the other possibility-" he started to say, but he was cut off by many people.

"No!" Rick said.

"We're not leaving her." Carol said forcefully.

"I'm so damn close man." Daryl walked into the argument. I was surprised. He never joined in these types of issues. "I just found her damn doll two days ago."

"Yes. And that's all you found." Shane snapped, getting closer to him. "A doll." At this, Daryl lunged forward, but Nicole stuck her axe in between them, so the blade was just inches from both of them, keeping the two apart.

"Think about it Rick. All those missing kids we looked for. The first forty-eight hours man." Shane was yelling now. "After the first forty-eight hours, you're looking for a body, not a kid. And you," he pointed at Daryl. "I she saw you running through the woods, all methed out, looking like a crazy bitch, she would run in the other direction. She would run from you."

Daryl lost it again, pushing past Nicole. Shane pressed forwards, shoving the hunter forcefully. Daryl was about to take a swing at him when Rick and I jumped in the middle, tearing the two apart. Both men were still screaming and shoving.

"Get the hell off me man!" Shane screamed at me, shoving me. Nicole rushed forward and pushed him back. She shot me a glance, giving me an small thumbs up. I did the same to her, showing her I was okay.

"Let me talk to Hershel." Rick said finally. "I'll see if he can clear it."

"Now," Dale spoke up. "Hershel sees those things as people. Sick people. His wife, his stepson."

"You knew?" Nicole asked incredulously, looking at the older man with fire in her eyes.

"Yesterday. I talked to Hershel."

"And you waited a whole day to tell us?" Lori gasped.

"I thought we could survive one more night. And we did." Dale said, trying to be the voice of reason. "I was going to same something this morning but Glenn wanted to be the one." I groaned internally. Why had I volunteered to do this?

"Hershel's crazy if he thinks those things are alive." Shane spat.

"He's not crazy." Nicole looked at her brother. "He's desperate. We all are. I'm with Rick. It's his land."

"Oh shut up Nicole." Shane sneered. "You've been here what? Four days? You're in no position to make calls for this group."

"Neither are you!" She yelled. "You don't think Shane. You just do. You always have, and you always will. And that may work when it's just your life on the line, but now you have a dozen other people beside you. You need to start using your head man!"

And then, he did something that none of us saw coming.

He punched her. The sound was sickening, silencing the whole group. We all just stood there. It was almost like slow motion, watching his hand strike her face. For anyone else, that would have sent them flying to the ground, but not Nicole.

She just stood there and took it. She didn't flinch. She didn't cry. She just stood there, maintaining eye contact with her brother. Her eyes were emotionless, but I could tell Shane was trying to match the guilt he felt. Carl audibly gasped at the outburst, drawing Shane's attention away. When their eyes met, I saw him wince. He felt bad. I could tell. Carl was the only one left that trusted him, and he had just hit his sister, one of Carl's good friends. in front of him.

"Nicole-"

"It's fine." She snapped, cutting off her brother. "Whatever calms you the hell down." Then, she walked off, not even turning to look at the rest of us. I felt bad for her.

Not only because she got hit, but because of something in the way she reacted.

"Whatever calms you the hell down." Her face was an emotionless mask. She hadn't spazzed out. She hadn't cried. She had taken it.

Something told me this had happened to her before.

But that was another secret that I didn't think she would be willing to share.

 **Please leave a review! I would love you forever!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Another chapter for another day! Please leave a review. Getting a review would make me cry tears of joy. Thank you so much for reading. Please follow/fav and give me a little feedback**

 **Carl POV**

 _"Hold. Hold on, hold onto me, cuz' I'm a little unsteady. A little unsteady." - Unsteady, X Ambassadors_

I sat there, staring at the papers on the table in front of me. Long division. God, I hated long division. And, I didn't get why I had to do it! It was the apocalypse! The dead were walking, and my mom was worried about my math skills?

I knew she only wanted me to learn it as a distraction. She wanted to keep me hidden, to keep me in the dark, to shield me from all the horrors of the world, but it was useless. I wasn't innocent anymore. I knew what I had to know, I will do what I have to do if the time comes. No amount of math in the world is going to distract me from all the hell going on around me.

I groaned again, slamming my pencil down on the picnic table. "Stupid math!" I groaned.

"You okay?" A voice said behind me. I turned and saw Nicole smiling a little at me.

"Yeah. I hate math." I grimaced, scooting over on the seat. She plopped down next to me, examining the worksheet. Nicole had been a biology major before this all happened. I knew she loved math. I looked at her face and I frowned when I noticed that her right cheek was red and swollen, where Shane had hit her. I reached a hand out and touched her cheek gently. She winced a little, but didn't look at me. Instead, she continued to look at the problems. "I'm sorry about that." I said.

"You have nothing to be sorry for." She looked at me abruptly.

"Shane's been so….different lately. I don't know why, but he's been taking it out on you." I said glumly. "I'm sorry for that."

She waved her hand. "It's fine. Shane's just been under a lot of stress. Who isn't? He feels like he has to be responsible for everyone in the group, even though he isn't." She smiled at me, then added, "And he didn't mean to hit me. He was emotional, stressed. He just lashed out. Don't worry. It's nothing I can't handle." She shimmied her shoulders in a silly way.

I rolled my eyes. Classic Nicole, always making light of the situation. I looked back at my math and groaned once more.

"Oh Carl." It was Nicole's turn to roll her eyes. "It's not that bad. You just…" and for the next ten minutes, she helped finish my work. Of course, I would never tell my mom that she helped me. She wanted me to do it all by myself, but at this point, I just wanted to get it done more than anything else.

"Thanks for the help." I smiled when we finished the last question. I folded up the paper and put in my backpack. She smiled at me and gave me a thumbs up. "You wanna eat something? I'm starving!"

"I thought you'd never ask!" She grinned like crazy and stood up, sliding off the seat. I followed her up and we began to walk towards the campsite together. We walked in comfortable silence, until a thought crossed my mind, and I had to ask.

"Do you think Sophia's dead?" She stopped at my abruptness.

"What?"

"Do you think she's dead? Shane does. He said it earlier. What about you?" I stared up at her, and she thought for a moment.

"I don't honestly know Carl, and that's the truth." She said honestly. "I came here after she got lost. I don't know her. I don't know how she is, where she got lost, how strong she is. I hope she's still alive. I really do hope so. I'd love to meet her." She offered me a small smile, and I returned.

"Do you believe in heaven Cole?" She looked at me surprised. She hadn't been expecting that to come out of my mouth.

"Yes." She nodded. "Yes I do. I believe in heaven. What about you?" She looked down at me.

"I don't know anymore." I sighed, looking down. We kept walking, not talking anymore. I loved talking to Cole. She was always honest with me. She didn't try and shield me or baby me like my mom did. She was straight with me. Cole was like my big sister. She went to all my little league games when I was young. She drove me from place to place. She took me to school every morning. I loved her.

As we walked over the hill, we were surprised to see that the camp was deserted. Dirty dishes were lying around, left haphazardly on the ground. The fire was still glowing.

"Where is everybody?" I asked aloud.

"I'm not…" she was cut off by yelling. It was coming from near the barn.

"Rick!" It was Shane yelling.

All the color drained from Nicole's face. "Oh shit." She pulled her axe out of the strap and started running. The yells were coming from near the barn. My mind was raising. This couldn't be good.

As we neared the barn, I could see what was happening. My dad was with Hershel and Jeremy, holding a walker at bay, keeping it still with a rope around its neck. The rope was connected to a pole in in my dad's hands. Shane was standing in front of them, his gun pointed at the walker, screaming at them. My dad helped them catch a walker. I thought. He's helping put it in the barn. I didn't know if I was upset or angry or happy about that. My mad was going too fast to know.

Nicole and I kept running, joining all the other residents of the farm in watching all the drama go down. As soon as we stopped, my mom grabbed my arm and pulled me behind her. I grumbled silently, but didn't do anything. Now was not the time.

"What the hell Rick?! It's not sick! It's not a person. It's a walker. It's a monster!" Shane screamed, waving his gun. I cringed at the fury in his tone.

"Now just a minute Shane. This is Hersh-"

"No!" Shane screeched. "No it's not a human. It's not." Then, he shot the walker in the chest.

"Shane!" Nicole yelled, stepping forward. Daryl and T-Dog stepped forward as well, weapons in hand.

"Shane!" My mom screamed, holding my arm tightly in her hand.

"If it were human, would it be able to survive that?" Shane said wildly. He shot it twice more, adding two more bullet wounds in its chest. "If it were human, how is it able to keep going? It's not human!" He shot it once more for effect. The walker struggled in my dad's grip.

"Enough Shane!" Nicole screamed. He stopped and look at his sister.

"You're right Nikki. This is enough." Then, he charged and shot the walker in the head, having it crumple in my dad's grip.

"No!" The screams came from Nicole, Beth, and Maggie.

"Shane! Stop it!" My dad yelled forcefully, still holding the pole. Shane ignored them, and he ran towards the barn. Quickly, he shot the lock on the door, causing it to break. We all held our breath as we waited for the first walker to come out. Hershel was on the ground, silent and emotionless, staring at the ground.

The first walker pushed through the doors slowly, and Shane killed it with one swift gunshot. Quickly, more walkers began to pile out, and Shane took them down, but there began to be too many for him to handle. I knew that that barn was full. We would be overrun soon. The others seemed to sense this too, because Daryl, T-Dog, Andrea, Glenn, and Nicole pulled out their weapons and began to take the monsters down. Guys we're flying, gunshots were ringing. I wanted to go in and help, but my mom held me back, frozen in terror.

Finally, after a minute of non-stop gunfire, they finally stopped. No more walkers were left standing. They all laid there in a mangled heap on the ground. Beth screamed and ran forward, clutching the body of a walker.

"No. No. No." she sobbed. "No."

I shot a look at Nicole. Her mom. She mouthed to me. My heart instantly broke for the girl. She had just lost her mother. Sure, her mother had been gone for months now, but she had finally realized it. I felt bad for her. I didn't want to know what it would be like to lose my mother. Everyone stood there in a stupor, stunned by what just happened. Hershel just sat their, staring at the ground, silent.

Suddenly, a loud growl came from inside the barn. We all stood up straight. Everyone gripped their guns and turned towards the barn as one hand clawed its way between the doors. Then another. We held our breath as the last walker stumbled out of the barn.

"No!" Carol screamed

I lurched forward and fell onto my knees. He walker had short, blonde hair and wore a blue t-shirt. Sophia. It was Sophia. I could feel my mom grab my shoulder, but I tuned the world out. Everything was going fuzzy. Sophia. She was a walker. I couldn't hear anything anymore.

Daryl grabbed Carol's arms and held her back as she tried to run to her daughter….no. The walker that used to be her daughter.

As the walker crept forward, everyone stepped back. We all knew what had to be done, but none of us wanted to do it. Nicole looked distant, but she seemed to know what was happening. My dad stepped forward, his gun cocked. I could see his hands trembling. His lips were moving, but I couldn't hear anything.

All of the sudden, Nicole stepped forward, towards my dad. Gently, she put a hand on my dad's shoulder. Gingerly, she took the gun out of his hand. She aimed it at the walker's head carefully.

I tuned back into the world just for one moment, to hear Nicole say "I'm so sorry."

And then she pulled the trigger. The walker fell on its back, bits of its brain flying every which way. I thought I was going to be sick to my stomach. Everyone else looked that way too.

I felt a hand on my shoulder, trying to pull me onto my feet. I stood up, but I didn't follow them back. I went forward, towards the barn. Carol was still screaming and Daryl held her in his arms as sobs racked her frail body. This surprised me, that Daryl was comforting her. He tried so hard to stay away from the rest of the group. Maybe he really did like us. My dad and Shane were standing there, staring at the corpses in front of us. The other were scattered around, looking away from the gruesome sight. The Greenes were sobbing, surrounding Beth, who was still cradling her mom's body. Nicole was in the middle of the group, on her knees by walker Sophia's body. I stumbled towards her. The person behind me tried to pull me back, but I shook them off and continued forward.

I fell to my knees beside Cole. I could see tears falling silently down her face. I didn't know why she was crying. Nicole never cried. Never. Why was she crying for some girl she didn't know?

"Carl." My mom called behind me. "Come with me. Get away from there." I ignored her, staring at the walker's body. "Carl." My mom said sternly.

"No." I retorted.

"No?" She seemed shocked at my refusal. "Come on Carl. They need to deal with the bodies."

I shook my head. "I said no." I didn't want to leave. I wanted to stay here, with Nicole, by Sophia's side. She was dead. I didn't know her well, but deserved a better death than this. She deserved better than a shot in the head and having all of us leave her.

"What?" My mom hissed. "What did you just say?"

"He said no Lori." Nicole said forcefully, looking up at my mom. "Jut let the boy grieve. God."

"You can't talk to me that way." my mom lashed out, stepping towards us.

"Shut up Lori." Nicole sniffed.

"Don't tell me how to raise my son." She huffed. "Come on Carl. Let's go."

"I'm staying with Nicole." I snapped, still not looking up.

"What?"

"You heard me. I'm grieving. I'm mourning. Let me be sad for the loss of my friend. God, just leave me alone for a minute." My mom was silent. I never lashed out like this, but the combination of Sophia's death and Shane's outburst was too much. My mom walked right up to us, her nostrils flared. I don't know why she was so mad, but she was really pissed of now.

"Fine." She spat. Then she turned to Nicole. "This is all your fault. You make him think that he's some superhero, walker-killer. And he's not. He's just a kid! Stop forcing this world on him."

"He needs to be in this world Lori!" Nicole said, standing. Tears were still dripping down her cheeks. "You can't keep him in the dark. You can't protect him all the time. Some day, he won't have anyone beside him, and he won't know how to defend himself because his mommy was too scared to teach him how to defend himself!"

Smack! My mom's hand connected with Nicole's already swollen cheek. Nicole took it like she did earlier with Shane, with no emotion or reaction.

"How dare you insult my parenting style!" My mom hissed. "Not like you had the best example, what, with your doomsday-prepped, drug addict mother and your alcoholic, abusive father. Yeah. You sure do know a lot about parenting."

I looked up at her, horrified. How dare she? My mom had just crossed the line. She had just used Nicole's terrible childhood against her, something I knew was a touchy subject.

"What the hell mom!" I yelled, standing. "Just leave us alone. Let us grieve!" I turned and ran away, towards the tent. I just wanted to be alone now.

What was wrong with everyone? Everyone was being cruel and hot-headed and crazy. Why were they all acting this way?

I felt the tears slip down my face. I knew that I would be crying for a while.

Why is this world so hard?

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	7. Chapter 7

**Wendy imouto chan, you are now my favorite** **person ever.**

 **Another update for my loving fans. I realized that I wrote Jeremy instead of Jimmy in the last chapter, but oh well. Please ignore it. I really hope you like where this story is going. If you could leave a review, I would love you.**

 **Please forgive my awful grammar.**

 **Questions and criticism and corrections are also accepted in reviews, just FYI.**

 **Nicole POV**

" _All of these lines across my face tell you the story of who I am, so many stories of where I've been, and how I got to where I am."- The Story, Sara Ramirez_

" _Hey Nikki!" My stepfather screamed. His words were slurred, which they always were. He leaned against the barn wall, a half empty bottle of some cheap beer in his hand. "Get over here."_

 _I rolled my eyes and went back to chopping wood. Almost 12 years. Almost 12 years he had been doing this, stumbling around outside, drunk off his ass. Ever since I was 9, he had come out to watch me chop wood. And every day, I tried and tried to ignore him, even though it rarely worked._

 _"Hey. Ya look at me when I'm talkin' to ya, ya here?" He said sharply, stepping closer to me. I groaned, but turned to face him, my axe tight in my hands._

 _"What Marcus?" I said through gritted teeth. I had stopped calling him dad a few years ago. Besides, he wasn't even my real dad. No. My dad was a good man, a hero, a cop. He saved lives and helped people. He didn't stumble around drunk every day._

 _"Don't give me attitude missy." He snapped. "Don't forget who puts food on the table for ya'!" I rolled my eyes. He was not the breadwinner. My mom was a teacher, she worked every day. I cut wood every morning, and I sold it to the local outdoor shop too. Jack had just enlisted in the military, so he wasn't even her anymore, but he still had his own job. Marcus just owned the farm. He didn't do shit, though. He just hired others to work for him._

 _"Sure." I rolled my eyes. "Whatever helps you sleep at night." I turned back towards the wood block I had been chopping._

 _"Hey!" Marcus yelled behind me, anger in his voice. I cringed at his tone, gripping the axe handle tightly in my hands. I tried to breathe slowly, something I learned a few years ago. I helped calm me down when I got aggravated. "Hey!" He grabbed my arm and turned me so I was facing towards him. "I already told ya. You look at me when I'm talkin to ya'. Ya' look at your daddy." His tone was mocking on the word daddy._

 _I tried to calm my nerves, but I couldn't. I was tired of this. For years I had put up with his crap, and now, now I was done. I never, ever spoke back to Marcus, but I had had enough. "You, you drunken asshole, are not my father."_

 _There was an explosion of pain as his fist collided with my face. I leaned backwards, cringing in pain. My axe fell to the ground with a thud. Marcus grabbed the collar of my shirt with his grease stained hands and pulled me close, so we were face to face. I could feel his breath against my skin, making me squirm in discomfort. He smelled like cigarettes, gasoline, and beer. It was disgusting._

 _"Ya better learn when to watch your tongue girl." He hissed. "Or there might be more where that came from."_

 _"Because I talked back all those other times you beat me? Ye times you beat mom? Jack? Nah, you just like hitting people Marcus." I sneered, spitting in his face. He growled and shoved me away, his fist swung quickly and hit me in the face. Stars spread across my vision as I stumbled backwards. He came at me again, getting my face once more. I fell onto the ground, so I was lying on my back._

 _He continued his assault, punching and kicking my stomach, while I cried silently on the ground, my entire body wincing with each blow. "You will not disrespect me again!" He screamed, delivering a kick to my kidney. I moaned in pain._

 _After a few minutes of hell, he finally stopped, leaving me a groaning mess on the ground. Tears soaked my cheeks as they continued to silently fall. Marcus grinned sadistically at me and turned around. Slowly, he began to walk away from me. He always did this. He beat the shit out of me, and then he just left me there, a puddle of a person._

 _But not this time._

 _Slowly, I sat up, wincing as pains shot across my battered body. I summoned all the strength I had and stood up off the ground. Marcus bent over, picked up his beer, and stood there, trying to finish it. As quietly as I could, I grabbed the axe and heaved it off the ground._

 _I knew that this was the last time he would do this to me, one way or another._

 _"Hey asshole!" I screamed. As he turned, I swung with all of my might._

I stared at the sky, silent. Childhood memories ran through my mind, memories of drinks being thrown on me, of Marcus beating me, of chopping wood for hours on end. Lori was right. What position was I in to give parenting advice? I was a twenty-one year old girl who had a nutcase and an abusive drink for parents. What did I know?

But, that argument wasn't all because of me. Lori had been on edge, she has been since I got here. I didn't know why. The Lori I knew was smart, loving, loyal, and always saw the best in people. This Lori, well, she was nosy, and judgemental, and kind of bitchy. I didn't like it.

"Hey." someone behind me called. I didn't need to look back to see that it was Rick.

"Hi." I said quietly, not taking my gaze off the sky.

"Thank you." He said softly, sitting next to me. I leaned back, putting my wait on my hands.

"For what?"

"For pulling the trigger." He sighed, looking down at his feet. "When I couldn't."

I nodded sadly. "It's fine. Someone had to do it. I didn't know her….so I guess it was less painful that way."

"I saw your uh….. arguement. With my wife." He told me. I grunted, rolling my eyes.

"Of course you did. Everybody here heard it." I joked.

Rick sighed. "I'm sorry Nicole."

"What are you sorry about?" I turned and looked at him for the first time. Looking at his face, I could tell he had been crying. His eyes were puffy and red. Sophia's death had been hard for all of them. I knew that Rick felt personally responsible for her death, even though it wasn't his fault.

"Lori. She's been really...touchy lately. I didn't think she'd go off that way." He grimaced, leaning back.

"It's okay. We're all a little stressed. The person you should really talk with is Carl. The whole barn fiasco hit him really hard. Harder than he will probably admit to you. He needs someone to talk to. I don't think he meant to snap at Lori like that. He's just, stressed." I told him. He nodded along, and I could tell he was listening. "And all the things that have been happening with Shane haven't been helping." I added.

Rick shook his head, looking down. "I don't know what's gotten into him. He's so… angry. Like today, with that walker. I know he didn't like what I was doing, but that was no reason to go off like he did." Then he looked at me. "Oh, sorry. I shouldn't be badmouthing your brother to you."

I waved my hand. "Nah. I get it, and I agree with you. He shouldn't have done that. It was reckless and stupid. I don't know why." He was being too careless, too dangerous. He had been doing small things before this, but I guess he finally snapped. "Something set him off. But I don't know what."

Rick looked down, staring intently at his feet. He was hiding something. "What is it Rick?"

"Nothing." He mumbled clicking his heels like a little kid.

"It's written all over your face Rick. It's not nothing. Tell me." I said sternly, like I was talking to a little kid.

We sat there silently for a few moments, with me staring him down, before he finally spoke up. "Lori's pregnant. And it's probably Shane's."

I almost choked on the air I was breathing. "W-what?" I was flabbergasted. Lori's pregnant? "How long have you known? Who else knows?"

"Yeah. She told me yesterday. And she told Shane too. And.. I think Glenn and Maggie know too." Rick was thinking really hard.

"Is she keeping it?" I asked, still in shock from this bombshell.

"I think so." He nodded, looking up again. "I just," he sighed. "It's so much to process. The baby and Shane….. wait." He looked at me, very intently. "You don't seem really shocked that the two of them slept together."

I shrugged my shoulders. "I kind of sensed it, not long after I got here. The tension between the two, the way he looks longingly at her, the way he glares at you. It all adds up." I nodded. "And I confronted Lori about it yesterday."

Rick groaned and shook his head. "How was I so oblivious?"

"You saw what you wanted to see. You wanted it to not be there, so it wasn't. You were desperate for something that showed you that the old world still existed somewhere." I said gently. "You didn't want to believe it."

"I guess you're right." He grimaced. I felt bad for him. He hadn't done anything. He was shot, and when he woke, his whole world had changed. People he loved were gone, and those who weren't had changed, almost beyond behind the point of recognition. He didn't deserve any of this. "But it's ju-"

"Rick!" Daryl screamed, startling us. We both turned, looking up the hill. The man was running at us frantically, his bow in his hand.

"What?" Rick stood up, his brow creased with worry. "What is it?"

"It's Hershel." My heart kept into my trust. I barely knew the man, but I could tell that he was a kind and gentle soul, who only wanted the best for his family. "He's gone."

"Gone?" I asked, standing beside Rick. I furrowed my brow. I made eye contact with Daryl, before he quickly looked away, and back towards Rick.

"He ran into town." He explained. "The barn thing messed with his head. He up and left. Took Otis's truck to the bar. And now Beth is in some sort of state of shock. We need him back, and he could get killed out there, drunk and alone." I sighed. The Greenes had been through a lot today. They didn't need any more drama.

"Then we'll go get him." Rick decided. "You, me, and Glenn."

"Alright. I'll go get him." Daryl said gruffly.

I stepped forward, so I was in both of their lines of sight. "I'm coming too."

"No." Daryl said immediately. I ignored him.

I looked to Rick. "Come on. You know I can handle myself."

Rick looked at me for a moment. "Okay." He finnaly said. "You can come. Go get your weapon and meet me by the SUV in a minute." I nodded excitedly. I knew I wasn't supposed to be excited about this, but I couldn't help it. I loved action, and I despised sitting still. The duties of a housewife were not for me, unlike the other women in this place. I wanted to get in the thick of it.

I ran up the hill as the other two took off in other directions. I ran over to the picnic table, where I had left my bow and one of my guns. I slung both weapons over my shoulders. I noticed that the others were sitting around a fire, staring at me. Carol was staring blankly into the flames. My heart broke for her. She had just lost her daughter. For me, that was an unimaginable pain. T-Dog, Dale, and Andrea were sitting next to her, looking glum. Lori sat on a lawn chair, with Carl sitting close to her. Obviously they had made up. Lori was staring intently at me, or more correctly, the bruise she had made on my face.

"Nicole." She called softly. I did not acknowledge her. "Nicole, I'm sorry."

"Like I said. It's fine." I tried to make it sound emotionless as I forced the words through gritted teeth. I walked away from the group, towards the car. Daryl and Glenn were already there.

As soon as Rick arrived, we got in and sped off. Rick and Glenn were in the front. Daryl and I were in the back, our crossbows sitting on the seat between us. We rode in awkward silence, none of us knowing what to say at this point.

I kept catching Daryl staring at me, but every time I would he would look away quickly, pretending like he hadn't been staring. Daryl was the only person at this camp that I couldn't read. I could never tell what he was thinking, and that's what scared me about him. He was distant and cold, but I could tell he cared deeply for the members of the group, just by how he had reacted to finding Sophia. He was hiding something. I knew it. I just had to find out what.

After a while though, he gave up on looking away and just kept staring at me. It was making me uncomfortable, to be honest.

Eventually, though, I couldn't take it any more. Why was he still staring at me? "What are you looking at?" I snapped.

He held his gaze. "That bruise." He gestured. "You took that hit like a man. Any person that can take on an angry Lori and Shane has got to have some balls." He then looked away, finally. I smiled internally at his complement, but didn't show it on the outside. I just grunted and looked away, not wanting to talk about the fight any more. I stared out the window , watching as the fields rolled by. Daryl was still staring at me, his eyes expressionless. As I stared, I wondered what exactly was going through his mind.

Daryl POV

As she sat next to me, I looked at her bruise, the one from where Shane had hit her. I know Lori can't make a mark like that. She doesn't have the strength. Shane on the other hand, he had marked many people that way. Including his own sister.

I thought about what Lori had said, about Nicole's parents, and that had gotten me thinking. She had had shitty parents, like me. We both came from a crappy childhood. That explained why she was so reserved towards the rest of us. Why she was so defensive. She had to be.

But I still didn't fully trust her. I couldn't, at least a, not in this world. In this world, everybody had something to hide, and I had a feeling that whatever she was hiding was huge. This chick had a whole lot of baggage with her, something I knew all too well.

I stared at her blonde hair, which was loosely braided over her shoulder, so it rested on her body. She pulled at the end of it restlessly with her dainty hands. She obviously had a hard time sitting still. Her blue eyes were focused on the fields out of the window, probably in an attempt to avoid my gaze. In the sunlight, I could see the outline of her face perfectly. Her nose was small, but had a large bump in the middle of it, obviously a result of it having been broken sometime earlier. Her skin was smooth, but she had almost a dozen tiny scars around her face, and one large one down the left side of her face. She had the markings of abuse. But that didn't change one thing.

For the first time in god knows how long, I found a girl that I truly thought was attractive.

Great. Why did I always have a thing for chicks who were messed up?

 **If you could all be like Wendy imouto chan, and leave a review, I would love you for eternity. Even if you have questions or criticisms, I would still love to hear them**.


	8. Chapter 8

**To all my readers, my name is Olivia and I live in Illinois, just wanted to let you know a little about me!9**

 **Wendy imouto chan** **is still my favorite FanFiction reader ever. Her reviews literally make my day.**

 **I hope you like this chapter. I gained 6 new followers just from last chapter alone. Holy Crap! Now if I could just get that many reviews... Sorry if Daryl is a little OOC. I'm trying here. Cut me a little slack! Enjoy!**

 **Daryl POV**

 _"I'm only human, and I bleed when I fall down. I'm only human, and I crash and I break down."- Human, Christina Perri_

There were a lot of people that I hated in this world. My father, the racist, abusive, jackass of a man that I came home to every night. Then there was Shane. I don't know what it was about him, but I just hated that guy. And there was Diana, my ex. Ugh. Just thinking about that woman made me shiver.

But then, there were the people that I really really hated.

And this guy, Dave, he was at the top of the list.

I just sat there, steaming while he and Rick talked on and on.

"A farm?" The man mused aloud. "Old McDonald had a farm?" His friend, a large man named Tony, chuckled at this. I shot a glare his way.

Glenn looked shocked. "How did you kn-"

"Glenn!" I hissed, staring intently at him. I wanted to cut him off quickly. He had just given our camp's location away to two strangers, whom I didn't trust. Damn fool. The man instantly shut up, looking down sheepishly at his feet.

"So it is a farm." Dave nodded, looking us all over. "Where is it?"

"No way we're telling you." Rick stepped forward, crossing his arms over his chest. I was standing behind him, so I was leaning on the bar. Glenn stood on the other side of the room, closer to the door. Nicole was next to Rick, right in front of Hershel. I could tell she was on edge, because her hand was tightly grasping the handle of her axe.

"Why not man?" Dave questioned. "Don't you want to help us out? It's tough out there man. Come on. You don't know what we've had to do." His voice was pleading, but I could tell that it was fake.

"It's tough for everyone." Nicole growled, stepping closer to Rick.

"It can't be too tough for a princess like yourself." Dave winked in her direction, his voice hard, and paved with lust. His eyes roamed Nicole's body hungrily, and I saw her stiffen under his gaze. Subconsciously, she wrapped her large flannel shirt around her body, covering herself more. "I'm sure you'd love having us there too. What's a couple more men around to keep an eye on you?"

All of the sudden, a feeling flared in my chest, a feeling of intense protectiveness. Something about this man didn't sit right with me, and I could tell Nicole felt the same way. The fear in her eyes was almost not noticeable, but it was definitely there. A low growl escaped my throat as I glared at him. I stood up and walked over to her, so she was now standing between Rick and I, less visible to the disgusting man.

"This princess can handle herself, thank you very much." Nicole hissed from between us.

"Whatever you say babe." Dave winked. He then turned to Rick, his eyes ablaze. He sat down slowly on the chair behind him. "But why won't you help us out cowboy?"

"We don't know if we can trust you." Rick drawled. His voice was tense, but his demeanor was calm. I admired his steadiness, but I was starting to get irritated with these men. Something needed to happen. Either they have to leave, or I will make them leave.

Dave shook his head, chuckling lowly. "That's not a call you can make. You don't know anything about us. You don't know what we had to go through out there, the things we've had to do. I bet you've had to do some of those things yourself. Am I right? 'Cause ain't nobody's hands clean in what's left of this world. We're all the same…" he trailed off, staring intently at the three of us, crossing his legs casually.

He did make a compelling case. We didn't know these men. For all we knew, they were decent people, hard-working men. Maybe…...

"Except for maybe doll face over there." He added. "She's probably cleaner than us all." He looked suggestively at her. I heard Nicole hiss behind me.

After those words came out of his mouth, my mind was made up. Never mind. There was no way these were decent men.

"Why don't ya' shut the hell up!" I growled, placing a hand on the knife sheathed at my belt.

"Woah. Woah." Dave put his hands up in mock surrender. "Calm down Robin Hood." I was about to step towards him, but Rick put a hand out.

"Daryl." Rick said sternly. He gave me a knowing nod, and I begrudgingly stepped back, my hand still on my knife.

Dave turned and hopped over the bar, landing on the other side with a thud. "Now, where's the real stuff?" He wondered out loud, looking through the stock behind him. I saw the pistol in his back pocket, and immediately tensed. Nicole and Rick did as well.

"Hey!" Tony yelled, cocking his gun in his hands.

"Hey, calm down man." Dave chuckled. "We don't want any trouble, do we?" He cocked his eyebrow at Rick. Slowly, he reached for his gun, and slowly placed it on the bar. "No trouble?"

"No trouble." Rick nodded. I could see his hand go to his holster. I knew where this was heading, and it was heading there fast.

"Good. Good." Dave smiled. "Now…." He grabbed his gun off the bar, pointing it at us. In a blink, Rick pulled out his gun and let out one shot, nailing Dave in the head. I turned to take care of Tony, but Nicole beat me to it. She unloaded two shots, hitting him once in the temple. As quickly as it started, it was all over.

We stood there in stunned silence, looking around us.

"What just happened?" Nicole whispered, holstering her gun.

"We just got our hands dirty." Rick grunted.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"What the hell are we supposed to do with this kid?" Glenn asked, tapping the window in the front of the SUV.

I turned and looked out the rear view mirror, at the kid who was passed out in the bed of the truck.

He was young, only about 23 or so. He was on the smaller side and unarmed. He wasn't much of a threat alone. But it wasn't this Randall kid I was worried about. It was the thirty other heavily armed men that had me concerned.

"Not sure." Rick groaned, grasping the wheel tightly. "We can't just kill him."

"But we can't just let him go free." Glenn interjected. "What if he meets up with the rest of them, and brings them back with him? What then? We'd be outnumbered, outgunned."

Glenn was right. If we set him free and he led the rest of the group back? I didn't even want to imagine how it would go. They'd kill most of us, but the women, like Nicole and Maggie, I didn't want to think what would happen to them. If the way Dave was acting towards Nicole was any indication, it would be bad.

"We'll lock him up." Rick decided. "Until we decide what exactly to do. We'll keep him in the barn." I nodded, satisfied with that answer. We didn't have to decide anything right now. Which was good, considering what we had just been through.

After Nicole and Rick had taken down Dave and Tony, other members of their group had shown up looking for them. We tried to talk peacefully with them, but that hadn't gone over too well. A massive firefight had ensued. All the men from the other group had fled, except for the ones that had been killed in the crossfire. They had left Randall behind. We had been willing to leave him, but Hershel had convinced us to take him. The old man was now sitting in the bed of the truck with Randall, making sure he was still out cold.

Even though the other side had lost some men, we had taken a beating ourselves. Glenn had narrowly avoided being shot. His hands were bloody and raw from crawling and ducking to the ground. Rick had taken a slam to the chest, bruising a couple ribs. I had gotten hit with a little shrapnel, leaving cuts up and down my arms and one large one across my forehead.

Nicole had taken the worst of it. During the entire fight, the other men had been screaming obscenities and suggestive remarks the whole time. One man had landed a punch right on her head, knocking her out cold. Rick had just enough time to carry her to the car. She was passed out next to me, her limp body lying on the seat beside me. She was situated so her head was lying on my lap.

I looked down at her. Her blonde hair was spilling over my legs. I reached down and brushed a strand out of her face. Her right eye was swelling, and was now turning a sickly shade of purple.

I don't know what it is about this girl, but but she seems different than all the other women at the camp. Lori, she was whiny and dramatic. Carol, I liked her a lot, but she was timid, quiet. Maggie, she was naive. Beth, she was too gentle. No, not Nicole. She was reserved, yet confident, and hard, strong. She knew how and when to handle herself.

At least, that's what I assumed. I had only known her for a few days.

The ride seemed to drag on forever. Looking out the window, we seemed to pass the same fields three times, even though I knew each of them was different. Finally, after what seemed like hours, we finally pulled up to the farm, the sun was starting to set. The fire was glowing in front of the house, and I could see figures gathered around it. Rick put the car in park and turned so he could see me and Glenn. Hershel hopped off the back of the truck and walked over to the window, so he could talk with them. "Glenn. You and Hershel take Randall over to the barn." Rick stocked his hand in his pocket and pulled out a pair of handcuffs. "Cuff him to a beam. We'll deal with him tomorrow. Go around the house, so they can't see you."

The two men nodded. Glenn got out of the car, and they went to the back to get the man.

"Daryl, can you bring Cole toget tent?" He gestured to the unconscious girl beside me. I nodded, rolling my eyes a little. Of course I had to carry her. "Alright. Let's go."

Rick slid out the door. I opened the car door and stepped out, my boots hitting the ground with a soft crunch. Carefully, I pulled Nicole into my arms. The girl probably weighed 110 pounds, soaking wet, so her body was nothing in my arms. It reminded me of dragging a deer through the woods after you've shot it.

I followed Rick towards the camp, watching Hershel and Glenn carry Randall to the barn out of the corner of my eye. Everyone was gathered around the fire, with the exception of Maggie and Beth. A few of them stood when they us coming.

"Hey!" T-Dog called. "We starting to worry about you." I rolled my eyes. Of course they were. All these people do was worry.

"What the hell happen…..oh god." Lori's voice was hollow as her eyes landed on the limp body in my arms. "Nicole!" She cried.

"Is she…." Carol whispered.

"Nah." I shook my head. "Just out." Everybody released a large breath that they probably hadn't realized they had been holding.

"What happened out there?" Shane spoke up, stepping towards the front of the group. He looked pissed, but what's new. "Where's Glenn and Hershel?"

"Around back." Rick said. "Taking Randall to the barn."

"Randall?" Dale asked.

"Yeah. We ran into a little trouble at the bar…" Rick continued to regale them with the whole story, from our arrival at the bar to just now. I tuned it out, not needing the refresher. I walked away, carrying Nicole towards her tent, which was slightly away from everyone else, like mine was.

The door to her tent was opened, so I ducked in and set her down on her blankets, careful not to wake her. I placed her pillow under her head. The tiny tent was filled with all the different weapons in her arsenal, from machine guns to throwing knives. It was almost comical, seeing the tiny, sleeping woman surrounded by deadly corpses, her face blissfully peaceful.

"You're one crazy bitch, you know that?" I chuckled, turning out of the tent. As I was about to walk away, I heard her whisper something.

"No." She whimpered. "I said no Marcus."

"What?" I whispered. Who was she talking about?

"No. No. Not again!" She was yelling now, her arms thrashing in the air around her. "Why? No. No. Jack! No!"

"Nicole?" I called, leaning closer to her. I had no idea what she was screaming about, but she was obviously reliving some traumatic memory. Her breathing was ragged and her body was trembling, even in her unconscious form.

"Tell him I'm sorry." She whimpered. And after that, she went silent. I stared at her for a while. What was she screaming about? Who was Jack? Marcus? I had no idea.

But I was no stranger to nightmares. Nightmares were my entire childhood.

 **Please leave a review. If I have anything I can clear up, if you have any questions, and if you have any ideas, leave them in a review and I will do my best to get back to you. I love all my readers, but Ilove the ones that leave reviews even more!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Olivia S- That is for the complement! And... my name is Olivia S. too. I love coincidences.**

 **Wendy imouto chan- I still love you, so freaking much. Thank you for the many reviews.**

 **This is a short chapter, but it's a building for a deeper relationship between Carol and Daryl, which I live. Sorry if they are a little OOC, I really do try. And please forgive the typos!**

 **Please review, comment, or criticize! I love all feedback!**

 **Carol POV**

 _"I'm never going back, the past is in the past. Let it go. Let it go." Let it Go, Frozen_

The sun was still low in the sky as I ate my breakfast. This morning we had held a funeral for Mrs. Greene, her son, and Sophia. It had been a beautiful, albeit short and quiet, ceremony, held at sunrise. Everyone had been there, except for Beth, who was still in some sort of catatonic state. The entire time, people had been shooting me short, pity-filled glances, but I managed to ignore them.

I knew that they had been expecting more from me. They had been waiting for me to start sobbing, to break down, to fall to my knees and scream at the sky. But they were wrong. I wasn't going to cry. I couldn't anymore. I had come to accept the fact that my daughter was dead almost a week ago. Now, now I was ready to move on.

I poked my eggs lazily with my fork, my appetite gone. Nicole and I were sitting around the empty fire pit. I was at the picnic table, and she was sitting in a lawn chair about 20 feet away. Everyone else had scattered. Rick and Shane were taking Randall back to town, so they could dump him. Dale was keeping watch. Lori was with Carl, still insisting that he do homework, although I no longer saw the point in that. Hershel and Maggie were in the house, trying to deal with Beth. Glenn was feeding the chickens. Andrea and T-Dog were fixing up the RV. The only one unaccounted for was-

"Hey." A voice said next to me, startling me. I turned to see Daryl standing beside me. Hershel had sewn up the cut on his head, but it was still an ugly red color.

"Hi." I gave a weak smile, scooting over on the bench, gesturing to the open space. Slowly, he sat down, almost hesitant, like he thought I would suddenly change my mind and scream at him.

You could cut the awkwardness with the knife. Daryl and I sat there silently, staring at Nicole as she ate her food slowly. The bruise on her face was horrible, spanning from her eye all the way across her nose. The rest of her skin was really pale.

After a few minutes, Daryl finally broke the silence. "Cole?" He said. The woman looked up, startled at being addressed directly.

"What?" She asked quietly.

Daryl sucked in a deep breath, as if debating whether or not to speak. "Who's Marcus?"

Nicole's eyes got wide as she set her fork down on her plate. "Wh-what?" She stammered, clearly startled by Daryl's question.

"Marcus. You were talking about him last night, in your sleep. And some guy named Jack. It sounded like a bad memory." Daryl nodded. "Not that I really care. Just curious."

"People from my past." Nicole whispered, barely audible.

"Any people we should be worried about coming after us?" Daryl cocked an eyebrow. I groaned at his abrasiveness.

"No." She said, shaking her head slowly.

"Ex-boyfriends?" Daryl chuckled. "Did they treat you like a princess? Pamper you? Is that why you miss them? Miss the easy life?" He snickered at this. I sucked in a breath.

Nicole's eyes narrowed. She stood up out of her chair, putting her plate down on the now empty seat. Slowly, she walked over to us, deliberately putting one foot in front of the other, before she was standing right in front of us. I was waiting for her to scream at him, to hit him. But she just stared, which was more terrifying than her yelling. She wasn't angry, she was pissed.

"Listen here asshole." She hissed. "You don't know anything about me. You don't know my life, my struggles, my past. You don't know me. So just shut your mouth before I break that stupid jaw of yours." She turned on her heels and stormed away, cursing Daryl under her breath.

Daryl sat next to me, stunned by her outburst. I released the breath I had been holding, looking at him.

Once Nicole was out of earshot, I turned and smacked his arm. He cringed away, rubbing his arm.

"What the hell woman?" He groped, leaning away.

"What the hell was that?" I snapped, folding my arms over my chest.

"What? I was just messing with her." He reasoned. "Didn't think she'd react like that!" I rolled my eyes at his ignorance. Obviously he couldn't tell that that was a touchy subject for her.

"I don't understand you." I grunted, looking away.

"Why not?" He chuckled, leaning back against the table.

"You act like an outsider. You choose to set up camp far away from the rest of us. You go off on your own, instead of meeting up with the group. You insult people and berate them. You act like you can't stand any of us." I ranted, turning so we were face to face.

"And?" He raised his eyebrow, obviously expecting more. "What about that do you not understand?"

I sighed. "But, when you searched for Sophia, you did everything you could to find her. You went out on your own, you risked your life. Hell, you accidentally shot yourself while you were looking! Why the hell would you do that if you don't care."

He opened his mouth to respond, but I cut him off, not done with my rant. "And then last night. Last night you went with Rick, Glenn, and Nicole to go get Hershel back. And then, you fought off a group of men to keep the rest of us safe! And then, you carried Nicole back and put her in her tent. Why would you do all of those things? You hunt for us. You protect us. You help us, but then you resign yourself. You choose to be an outsider. You choose to stay away! Why do you do that I yourself?"

He stared at me, his emotions unreadable. I bit my lip. Normally, I wasn't this vocal. I never spoke up like this. At first, it was because of Ed. If I had spoken to Daryl, he would have hit me, yelled at me for fraternizing with a 'redneck'. And after Ed died, I was to weak, to afraid to speak my mind.

But now, my abusive husband was dead. My daughter was dead. My old life as I knew it is gone. And now, now I have the chance to start over, to be stronger than ever. Starting with Daryl.

"My whole life," Daryl spoke lowly. "My whole life, I've been nothing more than an outcast, a washed-up redneck with no promise or skill."

I almost laughed out loud. "Who cares about your past life? No way in hell am I the same person that I was before all the shit hit the fan. You don't have to stick with who you used to be." I smiled, placing a hand on his shoulder. I was surprised by his openness. From what I could tell, I was the only person he actually spoke with.

"I.. I don't know who I am. Every time I try and figure it out, something happens to change it all. It's easier to just remain who I used to be. Why would you fix it if it ain't broke?" He grunted, but he didn't move my hand away, a gesture that I took note of.

"Then why, out of all of the people here, did you choose to open up to me? To help me?" This was a question that had been on my mind for weeks now. Why had he chosen weak little me to be his friend?

"To be honest, I saw myself in you." He shrugged. "I know a thing or two about abuse. Mine was from my old man….. but, still the same. I guess I just, I just wanted to help you, because no one ever helped me."

I looked intently at him. "So it's true." I said quietly.

"What?"

"I had thought you had an abusive past. From the way you acted. You're so guarded, so removed, the marking of someone not confident in their own skin." I explained, giving him a kind smile.

"Huh." He grunted, looking away. The silence took over again, this time not awkward, but peaceful, calm. I could tell we had just turned a new page on our relationship, and hopefully this would help him open up to the others as well. But for right now, I had to settle for him being my friend.

"Daryl." I said. "Go apologize to Nicole."

"What?" He asked, confused.

"Apologize. You were kind of an ass back there." I chuckled. "And something tells me that Nicole is not someone you want on your bad side."

And boy, little did I know just how right I was.

 ** _Please review for me! I would adore you!_**


	10. Chapter 10

**Sorry I was gone for so long, but Hey! I'm back now! Thank you for all of the follows and favorites. There were literally so many! If you could leave me a review, I would love you for all time. I really hope you enjoy!**

 **Nicole POV**

 _"Remember this walls I built? Well baby, they're tumbling down. They don't even put up a fight. They don't even make a sound."- Halo, Beyoncé_

"Nicole?" Daryl called from behind me. I didn't acknowledge him, and I could almost feel him groan behind me. "Nicole?"

I turned slowly, leaning against the porch railing. "Yes?" I raised an eyebrow.

His face was calm, but I could see the apprehension in his eyes. He awkwardly cleared his throat. "I'm...um…I'm sorry." He ran his hand through his hair nervously, not meeting my gaze.

"You've got nothing to be sorry about." I shrugged, crossing my arms over my chest.

He instantly looked up, his eyes wide. "What?"

"You shouldn't be apologizing. You didn't do anything wrong." I said again, speaking slowly, mocking him slightly. He looked me up and down, as if trying to decide what to say. I laughed a little. "Didn't think I'd say that, did you?"

He chuckled lowly, shoving his hands in his pockets. "No. I..I guess I didn't."

I rolled my eyes. "What did you think I would say?" I asked him this innocently, but I honestly wanted to know what he was thinking. I could usually read people, but not Daryl. He was closed off, like me.

"Um…." he thought for a minute, and I knew he was choosing his words carefully. Smart man. "I thought you'd be a mad, I mean, at least a little mad."

I chuckled. "Huh. Trust me. I've heard worse."

"Let me guess. Abusive, alcoholic father?" He took a step closer to me. I wanted to lean away, but I stopped myself. I looked him up and down, unsure of his reasons. He put his hands up in mock surrender. "Hey, I get it. I had the same."

"Figures." I grunted, turning away, so I was facing out toward the field, and away from him, but he just stood next to me, leaning on the railing so he was facing me.

"What do ya' mean 'figures'?" He asked defensively.

"It just makes sense." I shrugged, still avoiding his gaze. "That's why you're so moody and detached. Just a whole bunch of daddy issues."

"The hell?" He grunted. He turned so he was facing the same direction I was. "You don't know anything about me." He hissed.

"And you don't know anything about me." I retorted, running a hand through my tangled hair. The silence was heavy, uncomfortable. You could feel the irritation.

"I know you had an abusive father." He said finally.

"I know you did too." I grunted, trying to break the twisted knots in my hair. A question had been nagging at me this entire time, eating away at my mind. Something I had to know. "What happened to yours?"

"Mine?" He looked at me.

"Your father." I specified.

"Ah." He groaned. "He's… he was out of the picture. Prison. Drugs, child abuse, theft, assault. Last time I saw him was 10 years before this all went down, at his court hearing."

I nodded, soaking in the information. I knew the question that was coming next , but I wasn't sure how to answer, or at least, answer it in a way that didn't make me sound nuts, or at least, not extremely nuts.

"So, what about yours?" There it was. There was the question, the one I had been waiting for.

"Not sure." I admitted.

"Not sure?" He questioned.

"I haven't seen him since I went to live with Shane, since I was twelve….. since….." I trailed off, reliving the horrible memories in my mind. It was so fresh, so vivid, like it happened yesterday, and not ten years ago. I could still picture everything so clearly.

"Nicole? Nicole?" Daryl startled me out of my thoughts.

"Yeah?" I grunted.

"You trailed off." He shrugged. "You haven't seen him since…?"

I inhaled slowly. To make sure he understood this, I had to start at the beginning. "Marcus married my mom when I was 5. Before that, she was a single mother. When he came into the picture, I didn't know what to do. I had never had a real father figure, so when he told me to do something, I did it, no question. I did anything he asked. Anything, as long as it seemed to make him happy. For years I went on like this. If he was mad, he hit me, and I let him. He told me it was good that I do that. He told me it helped him, and I would do anything to help him."

"But then, when I hit 11, things got….worse. He started hitting me more, and harder. And, when he lost his job…. things got really bad….. to the point where he….he…" I trailed off again, not wanting to go into that particular part of the story. "Anyway, I started to realize what he was doing, and how wrong it was. It got to the point where I, I just couldn't take it anymore. So, one day, while I was chopping wood, he came out of the house. He was drunk off his ass and pissed as hell. He was screaming and slurring and stumbling, and he started swinging at me. I told him off, told him I was never going to let him touch me again, and that only pissed him off more. It was one of the worst beatings I had ever taken. And when he was done, he just left me there, broken on the ground. He went to go take another swig of beer, and I just snapped. I ran at him. I grabbed my axe…."

"And?" He pressed, raising an eyebrow.

"And….." how was I supposed to say this? "And I cut his hand off."

"You what?" Daryl yelled in surprise. He took a step away from me, looking me up and down like I was insane.

"I cut his hand off." I repeated. I cringed at the memory. I could still smell the blood, feel it spatter all over my face. I could hear Marvin's moans of pain, his screams of anguish, the rush of excitement, my brother screaming, my mom crying.

"So...you cut your step father's hand off?" He stated.

"Yes." I nodded.

"With an axe?"

"Yes."

"Then what happened?"

"Then the police came. Marcus went to the hospital, got a stub for an arm. He tried to throw me in prison, but the jury wasn't having it. They labeled it self defense, and sent Marcus to prison. He was charged with child abuse, spousal abuse, aggravated assault, the whole nine yards. His ass went to prison, and I went to live with Shane. And then I met Rick, and Lori, and Carl, and my life went on from there." I finished my story, crossing my arms.

"So…." Daryl mumbled.

"So…" I shrugged, awkwardly looking away. "You think I'm nuts, don't you?"

"No." He said. "No, I don't."

"Then what do you think?" I asked honestly, looking at him. He caught my gaze and held it, looking intently at me.

"I think you're different than anyone I've ever met." He shrugged.

"That good or bad?" I laughed wryly.

"Good." He grunted. I smiled a little, but quickly wiped it away. "I've never met anyone with that much guts before."

"Thanks." I smirked. "I don't think I'd call it guts though."

"I would. Cut off my dad's hands? I would never have been able to do something like that. Hell, I wasn't even the one who turned him in. It was some guy he beat up on the street. When he beat me, I just took it. I didn't complain. I didn't act. I just took it. I never had the guts to take action like you did. Eventually, I just ran from my problems. I hid." Daryl looked away when my eyes softened, not wanting any of my pity.

"Well...thanks, I guess." I giggled, nodding my head slowly.

"Your welcome, I guess." He chuckled. Once again, we fell into a silence, but this time it was less uncomfortable.

"Hey! Daryl! Nicole!" We turned to face the voice. It was T-Dog, standing up the hill, a gun in his hands.

"What?" Daryl called back, grabbing his bow.

"Rick and Shane are back." The man explained, while still yelling. "They didn't let Randall go."

"Shit!" Daryl hissed, gripping his bow tighter. He looked to me, annoyance in his eyes. "Let's go, as how they f-ed it up again."

I snorted and shouldered my bow. "Yeah. Let's go."

"Hey Nicole," Daryl stopped for a second, grabbing my arm. My skin burned where his hand was, and I fought the blush rising in my cheeks. I looked up at him quizzically. "Sorry about your shitty life."

I rolled my eyes. "Thanks."

As he let my arm go and began to walk away, I grabbed his arm, stopping him once again. When he turned and looked at me, I gave him a gentle smile.

"You can call me Cole."

 **There you go! A little Daryl and Nicole fluff! Let me know what you think!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Wendy imouto chan and FairMaiden and EverlarkCullenGrangerWilliams are some very epic people...just saying.**

 **Wendy imouto chan- I am with you on a ship-name. I personally like Dacole, but I am going to entrust you to create the ship-name for me. You seem to love it so much that I want to see what you think. Also, I love the name Dani. Trust me. That thought had already crossed my mind...**

 **Here we go, chapter 11! Thank you so much for everything you guys do. Thank you to my lovely readers, and especially to my favoriters (that a word?), followers, and of course, my lovely reviewers. You guys are the reason I write.**

 **Let me know what you think!**

 **Daryl POV**

 _"You don't own me. I'm not just one of your many toys. You don't own me. Don't say I can't go with other boys." You Don't Own Me- Grace_

I glared at the kid, whose face was now littered with purple bruises from where my fists, and one of Nicole's, had collided with his skin. He was starting to get on my nerves, this kid. He was like one of those annoying bugs that always buzzed in your ear, but when you finally turn to kill it, it disappears, like it had never even been there in the first place, like you had been imagining it the whole time. But, the problem was, I knew that I was not imagining this kid.

And I say kid, because that was basically what he was. He could only be, what, 25? 26? He had gone to highschool with Maggie. That was the exact reason why Shane and Rick hadn't set him loose. He knew Maggie. He knew where the farm was. If they had let him go, he would have led his whole group back here. That's why Rick and Shane had come back early. But, judging by the bruises on both of their faces that they tried, and failed, to hide, a little more had happened in town than they were telling. But that was an issue that I did not need to get in the middle of.

"So," I snarled, stepping away from Randall. "Tell us. This group of yours. Where are they? Who are they?"

"Oh, they're something alright." Randall gave a choking laugh. "Almost thirty of us, you know. Thirty men, the most random assortment of men you've ever seen. Big guys. meat heads, jocks, brainiacs. So very different men. But, we're all tied together, connected by one thing; the desperate need to survive. We may be thirty different men, but we are all working together to survive this shit show." He said it in a calm tone, laced with humor and malice. He said it in a way that made my skin crawl. I bit back a sneer.

"Working together?" My lips curled. "You guys didn't seem so 'together' when they left you for dead. They haven't even come searching for you. So the question is, what do you do together? Because from what I've seen, together isn't a real thing." I crossed my arms, as best as I could with my bow slung over my shoulder. Nicole stood next to me, in the same stance as me. The sleeves of her flannel shirt were rolled up, so you could see her muscles clenching and unclenching in irritation. I kept finding myself staring at her hand, still in shock from what she had told me earlier. She had cut his hand off. She had actually taken an axe and cut her stepfather's hand off. That was just…. Crazy.

"Oh, we've done lots of things." Randall quipped, trying to straighten up a little, even though his hands were tied above his head. "I remember one of the first things that happened with us, when there were only 10 of us. I remember," He gave a slightly creepy smile. "We were travelling at night, our group, when we came across a campsite. A father, and his two daughters, teenagers. Anyway, they fed us and gave us water. And in return…..well… you know what they did." He said the final part with a sadistic smile. I felt Nicole tense next to me, he breath getting quicker. "And, they just made the dad watch. They held him there and forced him to watch as these men, as we, did things to his daughters. And then, once we were done, we just left them there. We picked up, took what we wanted, and left."

I fought back the bile that rose in my throat as my stomach clenched. These men were horrible. And, unfortunately, this was exactly what I was expecting. I knew, just from the way Randall spoke, that these were men we did not want to get involved with. We had to make sure they never found us.

"So, is that what you would do to us?" I grunted, stepping closer, bending over so our eyes were almost level.

Randall gave another throaty laugh, shaking his bloody head. "Not exactly." He chided. "No. You guys, you're different. More of a conquest than a weak man and his two young daughters. No. You guys are going to be a bit more difficult, but we will take you out all the same. For you men, we would capture you. We would take you out, one by one. Cut off your arms, the cop's leg, the other one's hands, the old man's feet, same for all the other men with you. We wouldn't stop until all of you were incapacitated, not dead, not unconscious, just unable to fight, unable to resist. And then...then we would really have some fun. Start with the oldest, probably the silver fox. Looks like she may be the least fun of the group… although, who am I to judge. Then.. probably onto that brunette that always looks like you just threatened her. She's with the cop, right? Wait…. She's with both cops. Oh, that one will be fun. Watching you guys struggle, watching both men plead for her, knowing full well there is nothing they can do. Then, personally, I would go for the stuck-up blonde, then the young one, with the dough eyes. Then, I'd move on to the brunette, the cowgirl. We could show her a wild ride." He chuckled a little at this. Then, his eyes narrowed, and he looked up at us, and spoke in a voice, barely above a whisper. Somehow, it made him even more threatening than before. "And I would save you for last." he hissed at Nicole. "Most men have a type, but I believe everyone in my group would find a way to make you their type. Big, blue eyes, silky smooth hair, full lips, kicking, young body. You have everything they could want. You… I don't think we would kill you. No. We would keep you, bring you with us, like our pet. It would be perfect. And then…. Then we would kill the rest of them."

I shuddered at the graphic images he painted in my mind. Nicole stood completely still. I turned my head to look at her. She wore a poker face, impressively keeping her calm, trying to avoid an outburst, like the kind Randall had wanted. Her face was stonelike, but her eyes were ablaze, the blue ignited by rage, seemingly glowing. She was pissed. I could tell.

Slowly, she stepped forward, so she was by me. Her breathing was slow, calculated. Her eyes narrowed into small slits. She reached forward and grabbed a fistful of Randall's shirt collar, and pulled him closer to her, so their noses were only millimeters away from touching. "And you know what I would do?" Nicole hissed.

"Huh?" Randall grunted, staring into her eyes.

"When you show up, the first thing I would do is start with your biggest guys. It's always a great feeling, showing people who think you are weak just how strong you are. And after your biggest men fell, I would go for the little guys. They'd all be weak, terrified of how I just took out their biggest muscles. They would be easy targets." Her voice was barely above a whisper at this point, making her words somehow even more ominous. "And then….then I would kill you. I'd start by cutting you hands off, so you couldn't fight back. And then, I'd cut your feet off, so you couldn't run. And then...well, then I would bring you to the middle of the woods, and leave you there, leave you there waiting for the walkers to be drawn in by the smell of your flesh, leave you there to wait in agony as the walkers devoured you, piece by piece. And then, after you had turned, you would be stuck there. You couldn't crawl away, you couldn't run. You'd be doomed to spend the rest of your time as a walker, stuck, writhing on the ground, until you finally wasted away into nothing. That is what I'd do." Their noses were touching now. Nicole was breathing on his face, slowly and carefully. Randall was breathing quickly now, trying and desperately failing to hide his fear. Hell, even _I_ was a little put off by that threat.

Slowly, Nicole pulled away, turning away from the young man. She began to walk away, completely done with this kid for today.

"Crazy bitch." Randall hissed.

In a split second, Nicole had pulled her gun out and whipped Randall across the head, causing him to slump down, passed out against the wall. My eyes widened in alarm. Slowly, Nicole re-holstered her gun, grunting in satisfaction. She gave me a wry smile. "Sorry." she said.

"It's cool." I grinned, adjusting the strap of my bow. "If you hadn't done it, I would have." She laughed a little at this.

"Let's get out of this damn barn." She grunted, turning to leave the building. I followed suit, quickening a little so we were side by side. She gave me a small smile, but I could still see the apprehension in her eyes. She tried to hide it, but I could tell that Randall's words had rattled her. Something about what he said had shaken her, like being forced into a bad memory. But I pushed that to the back of my mind. Sure we had talked earlier, and she had told me about her father, but I still barely knew her.

Strangely though, I felt like I trusted her, which was...weird. I never trusted people, ever. Yet, with Nicole, I felt like we were the same, like we were somehow connected through some sick, twisted personal trauma.

But, even if I trusted her, why on earth would she trust me? I was a loner, an outcast, the only one of this group that would be forgotten if they disappeared. Why would she trust me?

I finally realized just how awkward the silence between us was, My mind raced to try and find something to talk about. "So… that threat." I said.

"What about it?" She asked, blonde eyebrow raised.

"Were you serious, you know, about all of it? " I was actually curious about it. I believed that she was bluffing, but then again, this was a girl that cut off her stepfather's hand. She may have been serious. "If they had attacked, would you have tortured Randall, left him for the walkers?'

She studied my face with calculating eyes, trying to decided on an answer. Her face was blank, and her voice monotone, when she finally answered. "Yes. Yes I would have." I stopped in my tracks, my eyes wide in alarm. I hadn't expected her to be so, so forward.

"Really?" I asked, alarmed.

"Yes." She stared blankly at me, everything silent for a moment. Then she broke into a smile. "Nah." she laughed. "I probably would just shoot him in the head, plain and simple. Nah, I'm not into that sort of torture stuff."

I stared at her again, not sure if I should laugh or run away screaming. This chick was nuts.

"You think I'm nuts again, don't you?" she smiled, flipping her braid over her shoulder.

"Honestly… a little bit." I chuckled, shaking my head at her. That just made her smile more.

"Good."

We walked towards the camp, where Rick and Shane were discussing something with Dale over by the picnic table. Carol, Lori, Andrea, Glenn, and T-Dog were standing near, crossing their arms. Rick was the first to notice our appearance. He gave us a small smile and waved us over.

"What did he say?" Shane hissed, locking eyes with us.

"What I expected." I grunted, placing my bow on the table. " Thirty men, lots of guns. If they found us, they kill our men. And our women.." he shot a look towards the four women standing in the circle. "They would wish they were dead."

"Are you sure?" Rick groaned, running a hand through his hair.

"Yeah." Nicole spoke up, arms crossed. "He was fairly graphic." I had a feeling she was repressing a shudder, just like I was, at the thought of the graphic images.

"What's he doing now?" Shane asked, his eyes hard.

"He is currently passed out against the wall, with his hands tied above his head." She smirked, grinning at the memory. I rolled my eyes at this, although, I did enjoy that moment as well. Nothing like an annoying kid getting punched in the face by your friend to make you smile.

"What?" Shane yelled. "What the hell Nicole? All you needed to do was talk to him! Why can't you do anything right!'

"You weren't in there Shane!" Nicole spat back. "You don't know what he, what his group, did. You don't know."

"Oh whatever." Shane rolled his eyes, groaning. "This is why you can't trust you to do things. Now he'll never talk to us." His glare was furious, and was aimed directly at his little sister. "Next time, you're not going in. You're too emotional for this. Too inexperienced. Stupid."

I rolled my eyes at his primadonna overreaction. "Jesus Christ, Shane!" I hissed, totally fed up with this man. "Calm the hell down. I would have taken the bastard out myself if she hadn't done it first."

"And that's supposed to make me feel better, that my sister thinks the same as an asshole redneck?" Shane snapped back.

"Shane." Lori said in a low, warning tone.

"Hey, you know…." I started to retort, but I felt a hand on my arm, and I turned to see Nicole standing next to me,shaking her head.

"It's okay Daryl." She said in a calm tone. Her voice was warm, and slightly gravelly, in a way that was comforting, yet strong. "This isn't a worthy fight. Thanks anyway." She smiled lightly, squeezing my arm with her tiny hand. I nodded slowly. My anger was still seething,When she finally removed her hand, she turned her focus back to her brother. "And you." She pointed to him. "You better watch yourself, before you run out of people who care about you." She hissed before turning and storming away. Normally, that would have seemed petty and stuck up, but right now, even though I was a hater of the classic storm off, it was perfect. She deserved to be able to storm off.

I noticed that everyone was staring right at me, but I just kept staring at Nicole. Damn. This girl. She was…. She was something else. She was someone different, someone I had never seen before.

I looked down at my arm, at where she had been holding it, and I couldn't help but notice how the skin there still tingled.

Oh Cole, I thought. We're just getting started.

 ** _Please leave me a review!_**


	12. Chapter 12

**Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I start High School in two days, and I have been a wee bit nervous and busy getting ready for it. But, I hope you like it.**

 **Please leave a review for me!**

 **Rick POV**

 _ **"Let the sky fall. When it crumbles, we wil stand tall, face it all together at sky fall."- Skyfall, Adele**_

"You have to be kidding me." Dale stood in front of me, his face disbelieving, his arms crossed in front of his chest.

"I'm afraid we're not." Shane grunted, sharpening a knife in his hands. "It's the only way to protect the group."

"Protect the group?" Dale threw his arms up. "How is killing an innocent kid protecting our group?" I almost winced at the harshness in his tone. Dale was a sweet guy, and he only tried to see the best in people, even when the entire world had gone to shit. He never, ever lashed out, but I could tell that all of this Randall business was getting to him.

"Well, what would you have us do?" Shane hissed. "We can't set him free. He would go back to his group and then lead them all back here to do…. God knows what to us. And we can't just leave him here, chained up in the barn for the rest of time. So tell me Dale. What would you have us do."

"Maybe we could help him? Cut a deal? Tell him that if he stays here and helps us, if he joins our group, then we keep him alive. Who knows! Maybe he could be a valuable asset to our group." Dale was really trying here, but I knew Shane. There was no way he was changing his mind.

"Please." Shane snorted. "Look at me and tell me, honestly, that you think that kid could ever be trustworthy."

Dale lifted his head up, so he and Shane were making eye contact. The two electric glares were causing electricity that you could almost feel. "I think we can trust him." Dale said in a low tone.

Shane rolled his eyes over-dramatically. "Oh god. Are you… are you serious Dale?" He yelled. Shane then turned his glare at me. "Are you hearing this? This dumbass thinks that we can trust the kid! Will you please explain to him why this idea is so incredibly stupid?"

"What I think he means," I interjected, trying to defuse this bomb before it went off in all of our faces. "Is that Randall would probably sooner kill himself than join us. He doesn't seem to want to live with us, but we can't send him back."

"But killing him is not the answer!" Dale yelled, stepping closer to me.

I put my hands out in front of me, in a surrendering motion. "Dale, what else should we do? We'll do it as humanely as possible."

Dale scoffed. "What about any of this is humane? You guys can't just go around playing God! You can't be judge, jury, and executioner. Have we let go of everything in our past, everything that made us human?" The hurt in his voice was evident, and my head hurt from it.

"Well, it's too late Dale. It's been decided." Shane barked, sheathing his knife and storming away, shoving his way through the crowd that had gathered around us. "You and Daryl. Meet me at the barn, 6 pm." He turned and gave me a knowing look, and I nodded darkly. Then, he looked to Daryl, who nodded back as well. With a satisfied huff, Shane stormed away, which was beginning to become a trend around here.

"What is this?" Dale wondered to himself.

"Dale-"

"No, Rick." The older man shushed me before I could continue. "Just no." Then, he turned and walked away. "I'm gonna take watch." Was all he muttered before he walked away.

I groaned and ran a hand through my messy curls, completely at a loss. I agreed with Shane. Randall had to be dealt with, but Dale's words stuck with me. He did have a point. But, we were past the point of humanity. Now, we were concerned about life and death, not right and wrong. I still tried to remain as humane as possible, but it was getting harder and harder as things got worse.

I turned and looked at the people who had gathered, who were now all watching me intently. It was Daryl, Nicole, Glenn, Maggie, and T-Dog. Maggie looked concerned, Glenn was sullen, T-Dog was absentmindedly watching Dale walk away, Daryl was making eye-contact with me, and Nicole was braiding her hair, looking between me and Daryl.

"Guys… I'm…" I started to say, but I had no idea where this sentence was headed, but apparently, I didn't need to, as Dary shushed me.

"It's okay Rick." Daryl drawled. "I'm with you and….. Shane on this one." His voice turned into a growl when my former partner's name crossed his lips. "I'll see y'all at the barn later. We need to get it over with."

"Damn right." I grunted, resting my hand on the top of my gun. "I'm gonna go check on Carol, then maybe on Beth. It's been a stressful few days for those two." I said slowly, trying to think of things I could do to distract myself.

"Yeah, it has been." Daryl huffed. "I'm gonna do a little target practice." He slung his bow over his shoulder. Then, he turned and looked at the petite woman next to him. "You wanna join me?"

Nicole raised an eyebrow, as did I. "Why? Feel Like being emasculated today?" She chuckled.

Daryl rolled his eyes. "Not likely." His tone was snarky, but there was no anger in his voice, which surprised me. There was always anger in his voice.

"Fine." Nicole huffed. "Let me get my bow." She turned and jogged away, chuckling as she went. Daryl smiled a little a this, but let his expression fall back into his permanent state of scowling when he caught my stare.

'What the hell was that?" I questioned, looking at Nicole as she went off.

"What was what?" Daryl asked, nonchalantly.

"You just smiled." I said pointedly, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't think so." He grunted, not breaking eye contact.

"I know what I saw."

"I don't think ya do Officer Friendly."

"Do you forget that I used to interrogate people for a living? Trust me. I can read people." I smirked when I saw his face break a little in defeat at this. Daryl had opened up a little bit more to our group, but he was still distant, quiet, and secretive. I still felt that he didn't trust any of us at all, but that was why I was so confused right now. "So what was that?"

Daryl stared at me silently for a moment, before speaking slowly. "A long story." Was all he muttered before he walked away, ignoring my gaze that was burning into his back.

I huffed a little. Maybe I had been overstepping my boundaries a little with that, but hey, could you blame me? All I wanted to do was integrate Daryl as a part of our group.

But why the hell had he joked with Nikki?

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

It was 5:57, and Daryl, Shane, and I were standing outside the barn. The others were over by the fire pit. The others had started to come down and form a crowd, but Nicole had come down and sent them away, an act that I had quietly thanked her for. I want this to be as short as possible.

"How do we wanna do this?" Daryl asked, looking at Shane and I.

"I say one shot through the head, one and done." I said. Daryl nodded in agreement, while Shane merely grunted.

"Let's get this over with." He said. I swallowed the lump that was forming in my throat, and shook my head, trying to clear my head, but Dale's voice was still there, still saying things in the back of my mind. "Shut up Dale." I hissed, almost inaudibly.

I followed Shane into the dimly lit barn, all the way to the back where Randall was still tied to a beam. There was a large purple bruise on his face, presumably from where Nikki had pistol whipped him. His arms were also discolored, definitely the work of Daryl.

"Well, well, well." Randall drawled. "Bringing in the big guns, I see." He looked towards Daryl, who was on my left. I came to a stop by Shane's side. "Couldn't handle me all alone?"

"Shut up." Daryl hissed, his voice low.

"Where's Blondie? I think she could handle me all alone." Randall chuckled sadistically.

"Shut the hell up." Shane was the one who hissed this time. His eyes were ablaze, and even I was a little terrified right now.

"In all seriousness though," Randall"s tone was serious. "Why the hell are you here?"

"We can't just leave you here." I stated, making eye contact. This was the first time I realized just how young Randall was. He was only 23 or so. He still had a whole life to lead….but what kind of life would he have here, in this world? No. This needed to be done.

"So where am I goi….oh." Randall's face instantly darkened, and his eyes fell to the floor. He knew where we were going with this.

"We have to do this Randall." I stepped forwards, trying to explain. "It's the only way to keep us safe."

"I get it." Randall nodded. His tone was so sad. It was starting to get to me. This was a kid. He didn't deserve to die. He really didn't… "Can you at least get Goldilocks to do it?"

Nope. Nevermind.

"Alright. That's it." I pulled my gun out of it's holster, aiming it at Randall's face. My moves were so quick that both Daryl and Shane stepped back in surprise.

"Oh come on. It's my dying wish. Can you at least let the hot one kill me?"

"Okay, now I'm really gonna do it." I yelled, my hand shaking.

Suddenly, a voice came from the the entrance to the barn. "Do it Dad. Do it." I turned to see my son standing there, nothing but malice in his eyes.

And at that, I brought my gun down. "Carl, what the hell are you doing here? Why aren't you with your mother?"

"I came to watch this bastard die." He snarled, grinning in an evil way at Randall.

"Carl! You will not speak like that, and you will not act this way, not as long as I'm around." Then I turned and looked at Randall, resisting the urge to vomit. Dale's voice was clearer as day, and suddenly, I saw exactly what he was talking about. Is this what we were coming to? Were we really becoming this lawless, this evil, this inhumane? "Come on Shane, Daryl. We're not doing this. Not today." I started towards the door, but turned when neither of them followed me.

"What the hell Rick?" Shane cursed. "Why this sudden 'good guy' routine?"

"Because we are the good guys." I yelled back, throwing my hands up. "We're cops Shane. We're supposed to do the good thing."

"That doesn't matter anymore Rick." He hissed. "There are no good guys and bad guys anymore. There's only life and death. Survival. And we either do or we don't."

"We're not doing this." I said firmly, ending the discussion right then and there. Then I turned and walked out, only stopping this time to grab Carl's shoulder. "And you, you come with me. If you ever act like that again…" I trailed off, but the look on his face told me that he understood what I was saying.

Slowly, I pulled him out of the barn, completely unsure of what to do now. All I knew was that we were not killing this kid, not if I had anything to say about it. Right now, I needed to deal with Carl.

And I needed to apologize to Dale.

 **Next time I post I'll be a high schooler! Wish me luck!**


	13. Chapter 13

**I think this chapter's pretty cute, and sorry if this story drags on a little too much, but I'm doing my best. And good news team! I didn't fail my first two days of high school! Woo-hoo!**

 **Reviews are always welcomed, as are criticisms, corrections, suggestions, and ideas. Any kind of feedback is greatly appreciated and accepted.**

 **Do you guys actually like this story? I feel like I'm not doing a very good job with it, but eh. It's FanFiction, right?**

 **This chapter's song quote is actually in the chapter!**

 **Nicole POV**

I sat on the picnic table bench, glaring in the direction of the barn. The sun was now completely set, the only light coming from the fire that was glowing in front of me. I wasn't mad about the fact that we were killing Randall. I knew it needed to be done. No. I was mad about the fact that Shane wouldn't let me go in there with them. I was just as strong and capable as any man in this place, so why did he treat me like such a little kid? Sure, I had been here for a little over a week now, and yeah, I was small, but that was no excuse for him to treat me like a baby.

The others were sitting around me, mindlessly chattering with one another. The boys had been gone for a few minutes, which confused me, because I figured it would have been one shot then done. But I hadn't heard a shot yet, and that worried me. I looked around me, taking roll of the people around me. Glenn, Maggie, Lori, Carol, T, Hershel, Patricia, Beth, Jimmy, and Andrea. I knew Shane, Daryl, and Rick were with Randall. Dale was refusing to sit around with us. There was only one person unaccounted for.

Where was Carl?

I opened my mouth to ask, but was cut off by the sound of yelling, and barn doors slamming. Instantly, I stood up, sprinting to the crest of the hill. I could see Rick trudging up the hill, gun in one hand, the other dragging Carl with him. Shane and Daryl were following behind, their faces dark.

"Is it over?" Carol asked quietly, coming to stand beside me.

"No." Rick grunted, coming to a stop right in front of us. "I was just about to pull the trigger when Carl showed up." He looked towards his son, who was focusing intently on the ground.

"What the hell Carl?" Lori stepped forwards. "You told me you were going in the house." She crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at her son.

"Well anyways," Rick continued. "When I saw the look on his face, it made me rethink everything. Dale was right. The only thing that separates us from the animals is the fact that we show mercy, and if we stop doing that, what does that make us? No. We are not giving in, we are not becoming heartless, soulless monsters. If we do, how are we any different than all the walkers around here?"

He took a step closer to Lori. "He wanted to watch." He hissed. His face was utterly defeated. Lori frowned and put a hand on his cheek.

"It's okay." She whispered. "It's okay,"

The air around us was heavy as we all sucked in a breath, contemplating his words. For the first time, we all understood what Dale was trying to tell us. I shot a glance at Daryl, and he nodded slowly, in agreement with whatever Rick was saying. Shane on the other hand, he looked pissed.

But then again, he hadn't not look pissed since I had arrived.

"Well then, what are we going to do now?" Glenn asked. "We decided that we couldn't leave him, but now we decided that we can't kill him either, so what do we do?"

"I guess we-'

"Aaagh!" A scream cut through the air like a knife. All of our heads whipped towards where the horrible sound was coming from. It was from somewhere in the field. "Aaagh!" It came again, this time louder than before.

"What the hell?" Andrea cried.

Instinctively, I reached for my bow, as did Daryl.

"What is that?" Glenn yelled.

All at once, everything started to blur together. "

"Carl go in the house, and stay there!' Lori yelled forcefully at her son. People began to run around, grabbing their various weapons.

"T! Get Nikki's AK!" Rick ordered. Instantly, the man bolted towards the house, where Maggie and Hershel had made their way onto the porch.

Daryl ran up to me, bow loaded and in hand. "I"m gonna go check it out. You comin?" I nodded and we ran off towards the field. We fell into stride next to one another, and I could hear the others following us, not far behind. "This way!" Daryl hollered, taking a sharp left. I followed swiftly.

Suddenly, when the sound was at its loudest, Daryl stopped, and I almost plowed into him. After I had steadied myself, I looked around, trying to figure out why Daryl had stopped. Then, I saw it.

"Oh god." I hissed. There, lying in front of us, was Dale. He was screaming and grunting, writhing on the ground in pain, a gaping hole in his abdomen. There, next to him, was a walker, with his entire face covered in blood. Dale's blood. The walker snarled at us. He was a huge, ugly man, in a pair of old coveralls. Daryl hissed and released an arrow, nailing it in the head. It fell backwards, buts of its brain splattering everywhere.

In a moment of stunned silence, I locked eyes with Daryl. The fear in his gaze was small, but it was there, surrounded by anger. "Over here!" He screamed, waving his arms in the air. 'Over here. Come here!" I started yelling too, trying to help the others find us.

They came running up to us, Rick, Shane, T, Glenn, Maggie. The whole gang, each of them looking completely terrified. I ran over and knelt beside dale, reaching for his hand.

"Shh. Shh, it's okay." I cooed, trying to keep my voice steady. His screams had stopped, and had given way to pained whimpers, which in a way were almost harder to listen to. "It's okay Dale." Rick suddenly knelt down beside me.

"Oh god." He muttered. He looked behind him, towards all the others. "Get Hershel! Get Hershel!" He looked down at Dale, his eyes watering. "It's okay Dale. You're gonna be okay. It's okay."

Andrea threw herself down on the other side of the older man, leaning over him, tucking a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. "Dale." She cried. The pain and sadness in her voice put a weight on my heart. From only having observed the two for a few days, I could tell that they shared some weird kind of father daughter bond.

"What is it? What happened?" I heard Hershel's voice behind me.

"Walker." Daryl grunted, kicking the already downed monster in the head.

"We need to do surgery." Andrea cried.

"We can't move him though." Rick yelled. "We need to do it here."

"Rick!" Hershel called, trying to get his attention, but Rick just ignored him.

"Maybe we can bring the supplies out here. Maybe we-"

"Rick!" Hershel yelled again, this time more forcefully. The cop raised his head to look at the older man. "Rick, there's nothing that can be done."

"No." Rick argued. "No there has to-"

"No Rick. There is nothing that can be done." He said lowly, looking from Dale to Andrea to Rick. "I'm sorry son, but it's over."

Rick looked down. He knew that Hershel was right. A silence fell over the crowd, except for Dae's whimpers, and the sobs that were coming from Andrea and Carl. We all knew the man was right. There was no coming back for Dale. His intestines were everywhere. Even if it hadn't been a walker bite, an injury like that still would have been fatal.

" . NO. No." Andrea sobbed, leaning closer to Dale. "Oh god Dale." Shane came over and wrapped a strong arm around the woman, pulling her up, tearing her away. When she tried to pull away, he just pulled her closer to him. I shakily stood up, turning towards the rest of the group. Rick slowly stood up, his hands trembling. "He's in pain." Andrea moaned. "He's in pain."

Carefully, Rick pulled his pistol out of its holster, turning the safety off. I turned to look at Daryl. His eyes locked with mine, and the sheer amount of pain in his gaze nearly broke my heart. A single tear fell from the corner of my eye as Rick raised his weapon, aiming it at Dale's head.

We all held our breath, waiting for the shot. Andrea looked away, closing her eyes. Lori hugged Carl tightly, and he buried his head in her shirt. The others just stared from a few feet away, their faces sullen. We waited, and waited, but the shot never came. Rick held the gun in his trembling hands, but he couldn't pull the trigger.

"I'll do it." Daryl came forward, taking the gun from his hand. Rick sent him a look so silent gratitude. Slowly, He raised the weapon. He knelt down next to Dale. "I'm so sorry brother."

And then he pulled the trigger.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Over the night, T and Daryl had dug a grave for Dale, next to the ones for Sophia, Annette, and Sean. Everyone was deadly quiet the whole night. None of us had slept at all. Most of the group had gone to their respective beds, but not me. I had sat underneath the tree by the fire pit the whole night, watching the men dig his grave. I had only known Dale for a little over a week, but he was one of the kindest people I had ever met. He didn't deserve to die, especially not that way.

As I sat there, I thought about all the people I had lost. My father, my friends. It was hard to think, but they were all gone. I had lost them all, and none of them had deserved to die.

And the only person that was still standing, Shane, well….. I had lost him too.

Ever since I had got here, one thing had been clear. This Shane was not the Shane that had raised me. He wasn't the kind hearted, goofy, clumsy older brother I had come to know. No. This Shane was cold, deadly, dangerous. Out of all the people I had lost, all the people I had seen die, before and after the epidemic, the loss of him hurt the most,/because I knew that he wasn't in a better place. He was in the worst place of his life, and there was nothing I could about it. There was no way I could save him.

Maybe not me, but there might be one person that can talk some sense into him. Lori. Maybe Lori could talk some sense into him. I had been harboring so much anger for her, that I hadn't stopped to think about how she could help me, help us.

"Hey." Daryl grunted. I looked up to see his face looming above me.

'Hey." I muttered, placing my hands in my lap. "You okay?"

He scoffed. "I don't think anyone's okay anymore."

"Got that right." I huffed. I looked at his face. "I'm so sorry about Dale."

Daryl slid down and sat next to me. "He was a good man. I don't have much of a frame of reference of what a 'good man' should be, but he seems like the type."

"I barely knew him." I sighed. "But he was so kind, so loving. He didn't deserve it." We sat in silence, listening to the hum of the insects around us. My eyelids felt heavy, and after a while, I stopped trying to force them open. Daryl was asleep against the tree next to me, and the sun wouldn't be up for hours, so I decided to a least try and sleep. Staying up all night wouldn't bring Dale back. After a few moments, my eyes slipped closed.

 **Daryl POV**

I woke with a start, my head lurching forwards. It was still dark outside, but it looked to be close to dawn. A cold wind bit through the air, making me shiver a little. I was still leaning against the tree, where I had sat down last night. My hands were still covered in dirt from digging the grave. My entire body was wracked with exhaustion. And then, I noticed the warm pressure on my shoulder. Utterly confused, I looked down. Instantly, a small smile crept its way onto my face. Nicole was dead asleep, her head leaning on my shoulder. Her face looked so peaceful, so calm, more calm than I had ever seen her.

I sat there like this for a few minutes, and it was becoming more and more apparent that I was not getting back to sleep. I couldn't just sit here until dawn, which was when the funeral was. I had too much on my mind, and I had never been good at sitting still in the first place. Slowly, I pulled away from Cole, making sure she didn't fall over. Then, when I knew she was upright, I stood up, using my hunting skills to keep my steps silent. I looked down at Nicole again. She looked so small in this position, so delicate and fragile, like a little kid, like Sophia had looked. Her entire body was trembling in the cold wind. In her sleep, she pulled her arms more closely around her. She was only covered in her normal clothes and a light jacket. She looked like she was freezing. I looked around and saw a blanket lying on the bench by the picnic table. Slowly, I picked it up and draped it over her small form.

Quietly, I walked towards the well, wanting to clear my head.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Dale could get under your skin." Rick said. "He sure got under mine. That's because he was never afraid to say what he thought, how he felt. That kind of honesty is rare, and brave. Whenever I'd make a decision, I'd look at Dale and he'd be looking back at me with that look he had. We've all seen it one time or another. I couldn't always read him, but he could read us. He saw people for who they knew things about us, the truth, who we really are. In the end, he was talking about us losing our humanity. He said this group was broken. The best way to honor him is to unbreak it. So we'll set aside our differences and pull together, stop feeling sorry for ourselves and take control of our lives, our safety, our 're not broken. We're going to prove him wrong. From now on, we're gonna do it his way. That is how we honor Dale."

There was a small murmur of agreement that rippled through the group. We stood in a small semi-circle around the grave. Lori and Rick had both said things, and everyone else had said their own, silent prayers.

Nicole had woken up a few hours after I had. She hadn't said anything to me, just kept shooting me glances. She still had the blanket wrapped around her. The blanket had been Dale's, and it seemed appropriate to have it today.

"That was beautiful." Andrea whispered, her face red and blotchy.

"We need to start doing it his way." Rick sighed. "I'm just sad it took him dying for us to finally see the truth."

I stood with Rick facing the grave, while Nicole stood across from us, so her back was towards the east. The others were scattered around.

The light of the rising sun shone from behind Nicole, so the light framed her body, giving her an angelic glow. Her golden hair was brilliantly bright in the sun, and her skin looked dark and smooth. She gave me a sad smile, pulling the blanket closer to her body. She sighed and looked down, studying the grave. In the soft back light, she looked like an angel. She opened her mouth, and a beautiful song came out.

" _I'm just a poor, wayfaring stranger,_

 _a travelin' through this world of woe._

 _And there's no sickness, toil, nor danger_

 _In that fair land, to which I go._

 _I"m going there to see my mother._

 _I'm going there, no more to roam._

 _I'm just a goin' over Jordan,_

 _I'm just a goin' over home."_

Her voice was quiet, but deeply emotional. We all stood in silence, absorbing the meaning in her lyrics, taking in all that had happened.

She continued to sing, and I closed my eyes, breathing steadily, listening to her beautiful voice wash over me.

 **Could I get a review up in here? The make my day in a major way!**


	14. Chapter 14

**This is just a fluffy in between chapter, but I think it's a really good friendship developer. I'm getting really into my OC, and I hope you are too. Leave me a review please. Seriously. Please?**

 **Nicole POV**

 _"So say we up and left this town, and turned the whole world upside down. We'll make pretend that you and me lived ever after happily."- House of Gold, Twenty-One Pilots_

I swung my axe hard, plunging it straight into the walker's skull. Guts sprayed all over my already dirty jeans. The body crumpled to the ground, falling on the top of the pile that had already formed. The others each took down another walker, using their own weapon of choice to take out their target.

There were five of us out here, T, Andrea, Daryl, Shane, and I. We had been at this for the past for the past few hours, driving around in Hershel's pickup, with three of them in the actual cab, and Daryl and I in the bed. We had gone everywhere in a 10 mile radius of the farm and slaughtered every walker that we had come across. The sun was low in the sky at this point, and we had accumulated quite the pile of bodies in the bed. Daryl and I were sitting there, legs dangling over the back of the truck, swinging with the motion, weapons at the ready in case any of the walkers hadn't actually been taken care of.

"I think that's our last bout for the day." Shane grunted, tucking his knife back in his belt. "Let's load 'me up and get back to the farm." As we had been doing all day, Shane slid both of his arms underneath the walker he had downed and picked it up, trudging towards the truck. T-Dog followed, picking up his, then Daryl, then Andrea. I was left with my walker, and I rolled my eyes at the irony. The walker I had taken down had to be at least 270 pounds of what used to be muscle. Considering my size, picking this guy up was not going to be easy, but I shook off the uncertainty and squatted down and slid my arms under him. Slowly, I pushed myself up, using all the strength I had. A grunt came through my lips as the weight of the walker pulled me forward, threatening to make me fall on my face.

"Woah, woah. Slow down there." Daryl ran over to me, steadying me with his hand. "Let me help."

"I'm fine Daryl. I can do it myself." I huffed, readjusting my grip. The movement caused me to lurch forward. Daryl instantly ran around me and reached his arms out, taking the weight of the walker. I gave him a sheepish grin. "Thanks." I mumbled, looking away sheepishly.

"No problem." He chuckled. "Let's get this bastard to the truck." I nodded and we started walking sideways towards the pick up, where the others were standing, waiting. When we reached the back of the truck, we swung our arms and tossed the body in the truck. It landed on the pile with a sickening squishing noise.

"Let's head on back." Shane said, throwing the door open. T and Andrea jumped in, and Daryl climbed up into the bed. Slowly, I pulled myself up beside him, turning so my I was leaning against the side of the bed. When the truck jolted and began to move, a limp hand flopped out of the pile. And I mean an hand. It was just a singular, dismembered hand.

"How nice." I grunted, picking it up by the thumb. I held it out in front of me, sighing as I tossed it back on the pile. When I settled back in I realized that Daryl was staring blankly at the hand with a look of…...was that sadness? His eyes were clouded and distracted. He stared on like this for a few minutes, before I started to get really creeped out.

"Daryl?" I called.

"Huh?" His head snapped over, turning to face me. His eyes refocused on the world at hand.

"You alright?" I asked.

"What? Huh? Yeah. Yeah I'm fine." He stuttered out, tripping over his words. His southern drawl tended to throw people off. I'd heard almost every single person at the camp call him a redneck, all except for Carol and Rick. Personally, I like his accent. I had one too, just not nearly as thick.

"Then why were you staring at that hand like it **was** a picture of the girlfriend that left you for a better man?" I raised an eyebrow, crossing my arms.

"Oh...uh.." He looked away, sighing dejectedly.

I could tell he didn't want to talk about it all that much, and trust me, I understood that. "Sorry. It's none of my business." I added quickly.

"No, no. It's fine." He shook his head, turning back towards me. "It's just uh….. it's my brother."

"You have a brother?" I asked. This surprised me. He seemed like the only child, loner type.

"Yeah. Merle." He nodded. "He's a bit older than me, practically raised me when my mom died and my dad was off on a bender. Not exactly the best role model. He was the example of white trash, drug addict, sexist, racist, abrasive. He was an asshole, but he was my brother, and I loved him. He was all I had left in the world, the only family member that I had. When this whole shit storm started, he was with me. We found the group together. Hunted and stuff. Well, I hunted. Merle mostly just pissed off the rest of the group."

"Sounds like me and Shane." I chuckled. "Except, instead of drugs, my brother's just an asshole. And instead of racist, he's just an asshole. And sexist…. okay he is a little sexist at times...but, anyway. Sorry, I'm rambling." I composed myself, returning my gaze to the hunter across from me. "What happened to him?"

"We were camped out near a quarry, a few miles outside of Atlanta. We sent a group in to get supplies, Glenn, Andrea, T, guy named Morales, woman named Jacqui, and Merle. I went off on a hunt. When I came back, the group had too. I looked around for my brother, and this guy came out of nowhere, telling me they left Merle in Atlanta." He smirked at me. "That guy was Rick."

"They left him there?" I gasped, leaning forward.

"They didn't mean to." Daryl explained. "Merle was bein' an asshole and Rick had clocked him, then cuffed him to the roof. The building they were in was surrounded. They had to cover themselves in walker guts just to get out of there and get vehicles. They had to get out in a hurry, and T was in charge of uncuffin' him. Then…" His voice broke off, his hands shaky. "Then he tripped, and the key…. the key went down the drain."

All the color drained from my face. "Oh god." I whispered. "He died, cuffed to a roof in Atlanta?"

"T padlocked the door, so no walkers could get to him." Daryl said. "Then, Rick, T, Glenn, and I went back to the city to get him. You know Rick, always bein' the hero. But when we got back to the roof….. Merle wasn't there." I leaned back, thoroughly intrigued by this story. "All that was there was a bloodied hacksaw…. and a hand."

"Holy mother of god." I hissed, my head reeling. "He cut his hand off to get off that roof?"

"Yeah. We followed the trail as far as we could, but he was gone. And now, now I have no idea where he is, or if he's alive or dead."

I nodded. That's exactly how I had felt about Shane right after this had all started. "So, he's Schrodinger's Cat." I breathed.

Daryl looked at me with extremely confused eyes. "Whose what?"

"Schrodinger's Cat." I spoke up. "You have heard of Schrodinger's cat, right?" I raised an eyebrow. He shook his head, looking a bit sheepish. I sighed, rolling my eyes. "He was a scientist. He put this cat in a box, and left it untouched for a while. During that time, nobody knew if the cat was alive or dead. But, since the cat was alive when it had been put in, technically it was still alive the entire time it was in the box, that is until they opened it and saw it was dead. Even though it had been dead for sometime, it was in a state of being alive and dead at the same time. Because they couldn't see it, and nobody knew what exactly was happening with the cat, it was still alive in their mind, even though it was actually dead." I explained.

"I still don't understand." Daryl grunted.

"What I mean is; maybe it's good to not know where he is. Because, until you know where he is and how he is, he could be anywhere, in any shape. He could be with a group, living in a safe, fenced in community, or with a group of friends he found. Your brother can be just as good as you want him to be. The only time that has to change is when you peek into the box, when you actually get some answers."

He nodded slowly, fiddling with a dull knife. "Ya know, in a weird way, that makes a ton of sense." He grinned a little at me. "Th-"

"We'll be there in a few!" Shane rough voice cut him off mid word. With no response, Shane yelled again. "Ya here that Backwoods?"

I cringed at the rude nickname, but Daryl just groaned. "Ya. We got it Officer Asshat." He looked back at me, smirking a little. "So anyway, I was-"

"Why do you talk to me?" I cut him off, and I instantly regretted it. I had just spouted the first thought that had popped into my head, and that just proved that I had no filter. I mentally curse myself out.

"What the hell?' Daryl asked, his eyes turning to slits. His face had morphed from a goofy smile into a look of anger. The drastic change in his demeanor made me cringe, but I continued anyway.

"Why do you talk to me? When anyone else in camp tries to talk to you, you grunt. You ignore them, you get quiet, you walk away, or you tell them to go fuck themselves. You don't interact with them. You sleep far away, you go off and hunt alone. Hell, you barely eat with them. You've been with them for weeks and you still don't like them. Why the hell do you talk to me?"

He looked at me, and I was relieved to see that the anger on his face had simmered down. His eyes were still harsh, but the rest of his face was softened, or as softened as Daryl Dixon ever got. He stayed silent, avoiding eye contact with me.

"Daryl?" I pressed, leaning forward.

"I….I don't really know, honestly." He sighed. He looked up at me, his face unreadable. "You're just, you're easy to talk ta'. I don't know why though. I mean, for all purposes, you should be the worst person to talk to. Hell, you were raised by Shane….. and Lori. You should be an annoying asshole. But, but you're not. You keep your distance from the rest of them, you go out hunting, you're smart, you're sarcastic, you're strong, you're independent, your beau-" He cut himself off immediately, looking up at me. I leaned back, trying to hide the rising blush. He had almost called me beautiful. He had come so close. I could feel his embarrassment, but he just shook his head and continued. "You know how to use almost every weapon out there, and you survived weeks of the apocalypse by yourself. That's why you're easy to talk to. You're not like the others. You're not co-dependent, you don't need to be surrounded by other people for survival. I guess that's why I talk to you, you're the most like me." He finished, still trying to keep his face still.

"Is that supposed to be a complement?" I raised an eyebrow, chuckling sarcastically.

He looked at me, eyes wide. "I..uh….I...I just-uh….I mean…"

I laughed. "I'm going to take it as a complement." I shot him a gentle smile, placing a hand on his knee. "Thanks for telling me the truth."

Suddenly, the truck slammed to a stop, sending me flying off the back, and making me land on my face on the dirt road.

"Ow." I groaned.

Behind me, I heard a chuckle. Slowly, the chuckle turned into a full blown laugh. I lifted my head and looked behind me, rolling my eyes at what I saw. Daryl was standing up off the back of the truck, slinging his bow over his shoulder. His face had morphed from the stone wall of emotionless to a look of happiness. He had on the biggest smile I had ever seen Daryl wear.

"Shut up Daryl." I joked.

"That was amazin'." He breathed, wiping his eyes with the back of my hand.

"You suck." I rolled my eyes, rolling onto my back, so I was facing him. I reached a hand into the air. "Help me up you asshole."

"Fine, but I'm never letting you forget that." He grabbed my head and yanked me up, almost throwing me against the truck. I was so much smaller than him, and he was so muscular that I was like a rag doll in his hands.

With the force of the pull, I fell straight into Daryl's chest.

'Woah, stand much?" He joked, looking down at me, smirking.

"Shut up." I grinned, looking up at him. My breath hitched when I realized just how close our faces were. They were only inches from each other. I could feel his breath on my face. The warmth of his strong arms wrapped around me was comforting. It was nice. It felt safe.

It felt…...right.

We made direct eye-contact, and suddenly the reality of the awkwardness of the situation kicked in, and we both instantly pulled away from each other. Both of us were sputtering random awkward things like "Oh, sorry. Sorry bout that. Oh sorry."

We both looked away, our faces on fire.

"You two alright back there?" A voice called. I turned to see Andrea standing there, hands on her hips.

"Oh. Yeah." I answered, nodding a little too aggressively.

"Alright then." Andrea smirked, cocking an eyebrow.

"What?" I asked. "What is it?"

"Oh nothing." She shrugged, turning away, hands on her hips. She walked away, he hips swishing with every step. I could practically feel her smirking at us.

Oh, whatever.

What does she know?

 **What do you think? Please please please leave me a review!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Thanks to all of my wonderful followers and favoriters, and two Lily and Wendy, the reviewing divas. You guys make me so happy. TodY is my 15th birthday, and literally all I did was write FanFiction. Oops!**

 **Please enjoy!**

 **Nicole POV**.

 _"When you feel my heat, look into my eyes. It's where my demons hide, it's where my demons hide."-Demons, Imagine Dragons_

I pulled at the straps of my pack, adjusting it while I walked. It was the last thing I needed to bring in the house with me, then I was done. Hershel had finally gotten over himself and had decided to let us stay in the house. Winter was coming up fast, and leaving us outside, especially with a pregnant woman, would not have been a good idea. Today we had all moved our things in the house. It was cramped and crowded, but it was warm.

An icy wind blew through the air, sending shivers up my body. I hadn't worn my jacket, and I was starting to regret it. I walked into the house, opening the door as little as possible, so as not to let the cold in. The places was a cluttered mess. Stuff was everywhere, and so were people. Glenn had moved into Maggie's room, something I would not stop teasing him about. Jimmy had moved in with Beth, and Patricia had moved in with Hershel, to save space. Lori, Rick, and Carl had been given the other upstairs bedroom, since Hershel thought it was inhumane to make the pregnant woman sleep on the couch. There were two beds in the basement. One had gone to Andrea and Carol, and the other to T and Shane. We knew none of them were happy about having to share with the other, but they all knew that they were still lucky to get beds. When we had first learned that they were short a bed, Daryl and I had been the first to volunteer to give it up. I knew Daryl didn't want to share a bed with anyone and I barely knew these people. Everyone else had made the wise decision to not argue, although I know Rick wanted to.

"Funny, isn't it?" I heard a voice say. Lori emerged from the staircase, her dark hair dripping. "All of us crammed in this one house. A few days ago Hershel wanted to kick us out." She stepped slowly, like a hunter approaching a deer. I knew why she was acting this way. We had both lashed out earlier, but she had been the only one of us to resort to physicality. She was scared of how I would react. For a few moments she just looked at me, the sorrow visible in her eyes. "Nicole I'm-"

"It's Okay Lori." I said gently, turning to face her. "You just lashed out. A lot was going on, and I know my acting the way I did didn't help matters any."

"Are you sure you're okay?" She implored, stepping closer. She reached her hand out to brush my face. The bruise was almost completely faded, but the memory was still fresh.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Lord knows I can take a hit." I chuckled, grabbing her hand, holding it gently. "I really am fine Lor. My question is: are you okay?"

She eyed me quizzically. "What?"

"Are you okay Lori? Apocalypse, dead husband, not dead husband, scorned lover, surprise pregnancy, teenage son. You've been through a lot. So, are you okay?"

Under my firm gaze, she finally sighed, her shoulders sagging under some invisible weight. "No." She whispered. "No, I'm not. That's why I'm trying to keep Carl distracted. This world, it's tearing me apart. All of the happiness that I used to know is gone, and I just, I don't want that for my son. And this baby," she placed a hand protectively on her stomach. "This baby will never know anything other than this pain. I just… I feel like I'm a horrible person." Her voice was small, like a timid child talking to a stranger.

"Lori." I sighed, letting her hand fall. She looked up, avoiding my gaze. It was hard, because she was a few inches taller than I was, but that didn't stop me. "Lori." I reached forward, cupping her face with my hands. "Lori, you are not a bad person." Her eyes made contact with mine, dark brown on soft gray. "This baby is not going to be full of pain. And you want to know why? Because this baby is going to be loved. This baby is going to have a mother, practically two fathers, a brother, and one hell of an aunt," that caused her to chuckle slightly. "Trust me, as someone who grew up with two parents that barely equated to one, this baby is the furthest thing from unhappy."

A tear slipped down her cheek. I offered her a weak smile, which she returned gratefully. "You always know what to say." She said, shaking her head.

"I know." I smirked. She laughed, shoving my shoulders gently. I rolled my eyes.

"Thank you." She said softly. Then she reached out her arms and wrapped them around my body, pulling me into a tight hug. "Thank you Nikki." We held this position for a few blissful moments before I pulled away, smiling at the woman who had helped raise me.

"You're Welcome."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The rest of the day was calm. Slowly, everyone had brought all of their stuff into the crowded farmhouse. Rick had insisted that every exit had a vehicle, full of gas, next to it, just in case we needed a quick getaway. Carol, Lori, and Patricia were making dinner for everyone while Rick and Daryl were leaning over the table, making plans for tomorrow. Tomorrow, they were going to drop Randall off in the woods, like we should have done a week ago. Now, they were just trying to figure out where. We had no idea where his group was, if they were still even in the area, but we tried to pick the path that looked the least likely for a group to hide out there.

Shane was collecting firewood that we would pile in the barn as soon as Randall was gone. Andrea was with Beth and Maggie, teaching them some more self defense. I sat in a cushioned chair in the living room, carefully cleaning one of my AKs. It was a delicate process, and so far only Rick had mastered it.

Suddenly, the front door was thrown open. Shane burst through, his arms flailing. He stopped in the living room. The others came running in, eyes full of worry. It was at this time that I noticed the giant bruise and the blood that covered the side of his face.

"What happened?" Rick asked, his brow creased in concern.

"Randall." Shane got out between gasping breaths. "He….broke the beam…..for himself free…I chased him…he attacked me. When I woke up…. he was gone. Then I ran back here." His breathing was rapid and unequal. Obviously he had been running.

"He escaped?" Daryl hollered, practically shaking the ground.

"Took off into the woods. Not sure where he went after he knocked me out."

"We have to find him." Rick said coolly. "We split up." He stepped forward, turning so he was facing all of us. I could tell what was coming next. I could see it in his eyes. There was a plan coming. "Shane and I will work our way west, from where Shane last saw him to the creek bed. Glenn, you and Daryl go the opposite way. He couldn't have gone far." The men all nodded. He turned to face the rest of us. "T, load the cars with some supplies and gas, just in case. Lori, Carl, keep a look out through the bedroom window. Girls, Hershel, keep an outside watch. And Nikki, perimeter too, outside the house. Alright, let's go." Everyone else scattered, getting their various weapons. I just walked forward, pissed off.

"Rick, let me go out and help with the search." I pleaded.

He immediately shook his head. "No Nik. I need you here. You're the strongest fighter out of all of them. I need you here to protect them."

"That's a load of bullshit if I've ever heard it." I rolled my eyes. "What's the real reason?"

His eyes were softer now, full of love and protectiveness, like the gaze of a loving older brother. "You heard what Randall said. If those men found you out there, you know what they would do. I wouldn't risk it."

I swallowed slowly. I knew there was no way I was winning this argument, so I just sighed. "Fine. You suck you know?"

He rolled his eyes. "You know you love me." He chided. It was my turn to roll my eyes. Quickly, I pulled him into a tight hug.

"Be safe man."

"I will." He promised, breathing into my neck. Slowly, he let go, turning to leave the house. As he walked away, Shane followed him out of the house. And then a thought hit me. Rick had said goodbye, had told me he cared about me, had tried to protect me. When was the last time Shane had done that? Rick wasn't even blood. Shane was.

Why was he like that?

Everyone took up their positions quickly, everyone armed to the teeth. The men had set out almost immediately. Lori was keeping a close eye on Carl, knowing that he had a knack for doing the wiring thing at the wrong time. I was now pacing back and forth along the fence of the property, my mind on high alert. I didn't know what I was looking for, men, Walkers, but I was ready. I had an AK with a full jacket, my bow, and my axe at my side. I was like a Boy Scout with weaponry, always prepared.

Hours passed, with the sun set and the moon rising, and still no word on Randall. I was starting to get anxious. Where were they? Were they in trouble? Were they dead? There was no way to tell. All I could do was wait.

I was starting to sway on my feet from exhaustion. I had been awake for a solid 36 hours now. I was so tired that I thought I was hallucinating when I saw two figures out in the pasture as I made another lap.

They were small blobs on the dark horizon, but they were there. It took a moment for my brain to register, but when it did I took off running towards them, by bow drawn. There were only two. I could take them without using the noisy gun.

I ran as fast as my legs would carry me, which was apparently pretty fast. I was close to the men in only a minute or two. They might have been walkers, but I think they were men.

As I got closer, I could see the outlines of their bodies. Yes, they were still human. I got close in just enough time to-

Oh my god. He stabbed him. The man had stabbed the other man. His dark figure crumbled in the man's arms, which broke his fall.

I ran closer, now fully intrigued. What was happening? Who were these men? As I got closer, I could see their features more clearly.

I stopped dead in my tracks.

Shane. The man that had been stabbed was Shane, and the one that had stabbed him was Rick. My hero had stabbed Shane.

I couldn't suppress the cry that escaped my lips. Alarmed, Rick turned towards me, having just now noticed my presence. I stared at him with wide, tear filled eyes. His face was washed with fear and pain, a bloody knife hanging limply in his left hand.

"You-you stabbed him." Was all I could say before I dropped to my knees, gripping my bow with shaking hands.

"Nikki, it's not what it looks like." He pleaded, stepping closer to me. I locked eyes with him, my entire body trembling. Carefully, I raised my loaded bow. His entire body went rigid. For the first time in my life, I saw fear plastered across Rick's face, look of sheer anguish. He was horrified. He started to say something, but I only saw his mouth moving. I didn't hear any sound. In fact, I didn't focus on anything he was doing.

No. I was focusing on something different altogether.

No, I was focused on the walker that was staggering behind Rick. The walker that used to be my brother.

Without thinking, I released the arrow. As if in slow motion, it flew past Rick, who was looking at it in shock, and hit the monster in the shoulder, knocking it onto its back.

"Nikki." I heard Rick say, but his voice sounded distant, like it was coming from miles away. Carefully, I dropped my bow to the ground. Then, I slid my gun off my shoulder and dropped it to the ground unceremoniously. I knew what I had to do.

And there was only one weapon to do it with.

I walked pat Rick, my legs shaky. Carefully, I pulled my old axe out of its holster at my side. The oh-so familiar weight of the weapon was reassuring. Slowly, I raised it up over my head. And then, I swung, striking the walker directly in the head. I let out a cry of anguish, tears now streaming down my face. I groaned and sighed and hyperventilated, not caring about what I looked like. ( _ **Imagine Daryl with Merle**_ _)_ I yanked the axe out, trying to avoid looking at the dead monster's face. I swung again, this time splitting the skull more. And I kept doing this, over and over again, until the face was nonexistent, until there was more blood on my legs than in the head, until Rick grabbed my arms and pulled me away from the gruesome scene.

I dropped to my knees by the body, my entire body numb, unfeeling. The tears were still flowing, but it was as if my mind had left me. I couldn't process the situation.

"You son of a bitch." I sobbed. "You son of a bitch. You son of a bitch."

"Nikki…" Rick whispered. "I'm sorry you had to do that. He was your brother and.."

"He hadn't been my brother in a long, long time. In a way, he's been dead for a while. I just finally got to put him out of his misery." I whispered. I held my silence for a few more minutes, before Rick spoke again.

"Nil, we need to get back. We need to tell them what happened." He said gently, placing a ha d on my shoulder.

I nodded slowly, using his arm to pull my weak body off the ground. He had already shouldered my bow and my gun. I started to walk away, but something stopped me.

"Leave it." I said as he stopped over to pick up my axe.

"What?" He asked.

"I said leave it." I whimpered.

"Nikki are you sure?" I turned to face him, and looked down at the axe.

The paint was faded and chipped. There was a giant brack running up the handle. The blade was chipped and jagged. Fresh blood stains covered up the old ones. Dried blood still soaked into the crevices, giving it a smell that reminded me of death.

For years, that axe had served one main purpose- to protect me from the monsters, monsters like Marcus, like the men Randall had been with. It was a comfort, something to carry with me to remind me of my past and to protect me in the future. That thing had always been a source of comfort for me. But now, now it wasn't.

Now, it would always and forever be the weapon K had used to split open walker Shane's head. It asthma axe I had used to cut off Marcus's hand. It had done its one job. It had protected me from my demons.

But now I didn't need it.

Now, now I was strong enough to fight my demons hand to hand.

All of my past demons were dead.

"Leave it." I said firmly, looking him in the eyes. He nodded slowly and put it back down, leaving it where it had been. He came up to me and wrapped his arm around me, and we started to walk back towards the inviting light of the farm house.

And we were leaving the axe and my brother behind.

 **And the end to another one. Next one is the end of Season 2. Leave me a review, if it so pleases you!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Whoever my lovely guests were that reviews, you are the best! Seriously, reviews are my favorite things in the world. This is the chapter where shit starts to go nuts. I really hope you like this chapter, cuz I do to.**

 **Please enjoy- Olivia**

 **Daryl POV**

 _"If only I don't suffocate, I'll meet you in the morning when you wait." Bend and Break, Keane_

The day had started off so well. Hershel had finally knocked that chip off of his shoulder. Rick and I had finally made a plan to let Randall go. The others were moving everything into the house, trying to beat the cold of winter. It was creeping up fast. Soon, it will be here, before we can do anything about it. It would sneak up on us and pounce, ready to kill. But we weren't going to let that happen. Finally, things were starting to look up for our group.

But thenthings went downhill. Fast.

And that's how Glenn and I wound up here, in the middle of the woods, hunting Randall down. Somehow he had gotten free and attacked Shane, and then fled into the woods. The cops had gone one way, and Glenn and I had gone the other.

I was following a trail of footprints, one group belonging to Randall, one to Shane. They led from the barn out into the woods, almost past the creek. I stooped down to examine the shoe print, and saw a small bit of liquid on the ground. Upon closer inspection, I saw that it was a deep red color. Blood.

"We got blood here Glenn." I said, showing him the small spot. "Must've hurt his leg or something."

"Whose prints are those?" He asked, getting closer to me.

"Randall's." I nodded firmly. The kid's feet were at least three sizes smaller than Shane's, so we knew that the smaller ones belonged to Randall. "Let's keep goin'. It's gettin' dark." I stood up, wiping the blood off of my fingers and onto my pants leg. We took off after the trail, with me leading the way, and Glenn keeping a lookout. The trail lead a lot further out than I had been expecting. Shane had said that Randall had jumped him before he could get too far. How far was too far?

The footprints came to a halt in a small clearing about a mile from the farm.

"This must be where Randall got him." I said, looking around, "The leaves over there are crushed and the grass is bent. Probably where Shane fell." Glenn nodded in agreement and went around the side of the clearing, careful to make sure he didn't disturb any evidence.

"Daryl…" he said slowly, coming to a halt beside a tree on the opposite side of the clearing.

"Yeah?" I grunted, looking up at him.

"I found prints." He said quietly, staring intently at the prints that were on the ground in front of him. "He must have gone this way." He pointed north, where the footsteps were going.

Carefully, I circled the clearing, just as Glenn had done. I came to a stop next to him, s we were on both side of the prints. "Yeah, these are footprints alright. And they lead that way. Probably holed up arou-wait a minute." I stopped myself, not wanting to move or breathe, in fear that my mind was playing tricks on me. I inspected the footprints more closely. The grooves, they matched a similar pair that I had, and the size of the shoe. They were larger than my feet were.

"What is it?" Glenn looked even closer at the trail.

"These aren't Randall's prints." I said quietly.

Glenn furrowed his brow, looking up at me. "What do you mean? These have to be his prints. Shane fell over there and then Randall went over here." HIs words were slow, like he was trying to do a mental math problem, trying to map it out in his brain.

I looked around a little more, and something caught my eye. Quickly, I jumped over to the tree that Glenn was standing beside. Tentatively, I reached out my hand and brushed the tree trunk, running my fingers over the mark which had caught my eye. It was a large circular mark on the side of the trunk, about 6 feet up, a was streaked with a shiny liquid. When my hand reached that part, I pulled it away,, looking at my fingers as I saw the red liquid that now coated my hand.

"Is that blood?" Glenn hissed, coming to stand by me.

I nodded, still examining my fingers. Why was there blood, human blood, on this tree?

"Looks like someone got their head bashed." He noticed.

"Huh." I grunted, still entranced.

"Well that would explain Shane's- Look out!" Glenn yelled. My head shot up, and I followed his eyes. But I didn't need to at this point. I could hear it coming, noisily crunching each leaf under its staggering feet. Without looking, I pulled my bow out and loaded an arrow, an action that was just as second nature as ducking from a blow. I lifted the bow up and aimed it right at the walker's skull.

Wait.

Wait a minute.

"Is that Randall?" I hissed, lowering my weapon.

"Yeah. I-I think it is." Glenn said lowly, peering at the walker. We stared at it for so long that we didn't realize just how close it was to us. Quickly, I let my arrow fly, hitting the walker square in the forehead.

As soon as he went down Glenn and I ran towards him, falling to our knees. I grabbed his head and turned it towards me, examining his head.

"Glenn." I grunted.

"Hmm?" He murmured, looking at the rest of the body.

"Glenn, there's no initial wound."

"What do you mean?" He asked, looking towards the head.

"I mean, my arrow was the first head wound." I explained. "He died, but there wasn't a gunshot."

"Well, someone must have found him wandering in the woods and killed him. He probably attacked them or something. Then a walker must have but him." Glenn was once again trying to use logic and reason, but my mind had already gone somewhere else.

I examined his body, trying to determine a cause of death. There were no bites or scratches. No gunshots, no stab wounds, no arrows, except for mine, no signs of a scuffle. Then my eyes landed on his neck. It was marked with two giant red handprints, a snapped neck. Someone had snapped his neck.

"Someone broke his neck." I said, showing the marks to Glenn. He nodded in understanding.

"Who then? Does that mean that someone else is in the woods?"

I held my silence, examine the marks. The handprints large, but the break was clean and precise.

"Maybe it wa-"

And then it all came together. The footprints, the blood, the mark on the tree, and area of crushed grass, the wound, Walker Randall. It all made sense now, a perfect picture. Unfortunately, the picture was not one that I had wanted to see.

"Shane." I muttered.

"What?" Glenn asked.

"Shane. He did this. He brought Randall out here, snapped his neck, hit his head against the tree to make it look like a fight, and then ran back to get us." When I said it all out loud, I knew that I was right.

"Daryl…." Glenn said quietly, doubting me. Suddenly, a look flashed in his eyes, a look of shock. "Oh my god."

"It was Shane." I nodded, affirming myself.

"But wait, why would he do that? Why would he send us out?" Glenn pondered, the fear audible in his voice.

That was the one piece of the puzzle that hadn't fallen into place. Why had he wanted to send us out? Did he want to distract us? Tire us out? Then it hit me.

Everything Shane ever did was based on his own personal gain. He went out on his own, he didn't look for Sophia. He loved Carl like a son and Lori like she was his wife. He only talked to Nikki when she could help him, and he only talked to Rick when it involved Shane trying to be right. There was only one reason he had done this.

"He wanted to get Rick alone."

And with that we took off running back towards the farm. All I could hear was the blood roaring in my ears and the pounding of my heart. I was moving a s quickly as my legs would let me, and Glenn was hot on my trail.

We came at the house at lightening speed, praying that either Rick and Shane were both here, or still out there. At least then there would still be hope.

"Daryl? Glenn?" It was Hershel's voice. "What is it?" We came to a screeching halt beside the older man.

"Shane." I hissed between heavy breaths. Glenn bent over and put his hands on his knees, steadying himself.

"What about Shane?"

The others began to flood out of the house, walking down the steps to where Hershel was standing. Lori, Carl, Andrea, Maggie, everyone except Nicole, Rick, and Shane.

"What's wrong?" Maggie's voice was thick with concern. She walked over to her boyfriend and put a hand on his back, trying to calm him.

"We found Randall." I said, my jaw clenched.

"You found him?" Lori repeated. "Where?"

"In the woods, about a mile away."

"Only a mile?" She raised an eyebrow. "I thought he would have gone further. Where is he? You put him back in the barn? Because I swear I may go kill him myself!" The woman swore, her hands going to her hips.

"You can't do that." I shook my head.

"And why the hell not?"

"Cause he's already dead." I said.

"You killed him?" Hershel asked.

"No." I shook my head. "We didn't kill him, well, not the first time anyway. We found him as a walker. Someone else had killed him first."

"Who?" Andrea hissed. "Who's in those god damn woods now?"

I shot Glenn a look, and he nodded somberly. I turned towards the rest of them, mentally preparing myself for what I was about to tell them.

"It was Shane."

"What?" Lori screamed, grabbing Carl's shoulder. "How do you- why would you- what?"

And then Glenn and I proceeded to tell them everything, all the clues, the footprints, the blood, the boot prints. Saying out loud just made it come together in my mind. Now there wasn't even a shadow of a doubt in my mind. It had been Shane.

"But- but why would he do that?" Lori cried. "I'm not saying he did, but even if you are telling the truth, why would he do that?"

"To get Rick to go with him, in the woods, alone." I said flatly, looking her in the eyes, my glare hard.

She shook her head. "No. No. Shane wouldn't do a thing like that." It was then that I noticed just how silent everyone else was. They all wore the same look, a look of silent contemplation, which told me that they believed me, even if they didn't want to.

"Well, even if it isn't true, we still need to get them back. Randall's been dealt with." Hershel interjected, stepping between Lori and I. "Perhaps we should go out looking for them.

I nodded. "I'll go out, maybe a few others too, Glenn, Cole. Wait, where is Cole?" I asked.

"She was patrolling over by the field." Carol said quietly. "Keepin watch. She probably just can't hear us all the way over here."

"Well then, I'll go get her, and then we'll head out." I said, turning and walking towards the fence where she was supposed to be. I almost stopped when I heard noises behind me, and I turned my head and saw that everyone was following me. I wanted to protest, but now was not the time for that.

I could see the fence, but I couldn't see her petite frame. "Cole?" I called. "Where are you? We found Randall." Everyone went silent as we waited for a reply, but it never came. The only sound was that of the crickets chirping.

"Nicole?" Maggie yelled. Still no answer.

"Where the hell is she?" Lori groaned. "Probably went off looking. I should have known she would go, just to spite Rick." The woman mumbled under her breath. She was probably right. Cole had obably one off to look for Randall. She didn't really listen to directions very well. I should have known she would have taken her with me. I had to, but Rick had convinced me that it was too dangerous for her. Damn it, why had I let him convince me of that? Something about the idea of Nicole in danger brought out a protective instinct in me.

"Well now there's three people we need to find." Carol remarked. "We may need to go out in-"

"Wait! Who's that?" T called, pointing towards the field. We all turned to see two shadowy figures stumbling through the grass in our directions.

"I think it's Rick and Shane." Andrea said.

"That's definitely Rick." Lori confirmed. "But I don't think that's Shane." As they got closer to us, I knew she was right. The other figure was way too small to be Shane.

"That's Nikki!" Carl called. A lightbulb clicked when we all realized that they were right. That was definitely Nikki. And was she...limping?

They came to us slowly, but surely. Rick had his arm around Nikki, helping to support her. He looked shaken and pale, but he seemed okay. Nicole looked terrible. Her skin was deathly pale and her entire body was trembling. Rick was holding all of her weapons, and her clothes were completely soaked in blood. They stopped in front of us, but Nicole didn't look up at all.

"What the hell happened?" I said, rushing towards them. The others followed me, and we formed a semicircle around them. Lori immediately rushed to Rick's side, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Rick looked like he wanted to speak, but all he did was simply shake his head.

"What is it?" Lori said soothingly, rubbing his shoulder. "Rick you can tell us."

"I know but….." he trailed off, looking down at Nicole. Timidly, she looked up, and my heart instantly broke. Her eyes were glazed, and they were surrounded by a ring of red. Tears streaked her face. Blood was splattered all over her face.

"i went to find Randall." She whispered. We all went silent. Her voice was so small, so broken. For the first time, I finally saw just how small she actually was. She was so frail that I wanted to lock her away forever. "Shane's dead."

We all sucked in a collective breath.

"What?" Lori said quietly.

"He- he attacked me. He wanted to kill me. I stopped him- but, but I didn't mean to kill him. I just wanted to stop him." Rick's voice was trembling. "He must've been scratched already though, cause he turned almost immediately."

"I found them in the field." Nicole cried. "I-I saw his body, and then I saw the knife and then, then, then I saw the walker. And I-I" she was crying so hard now that she couldn't speak. Rick was crying too. Lori pulled him and Carl into a tight hug, leaving Nicole standing alone. She was so small, her body trembling with each breath.

After a moment of watching her suffer, I did something I don't think anyone expected. I stepped forward and pulled her into a hug.


	17. Chapter 17

**Almost done with season 2! Yayeet! So excited. Hope you like this chapter- and please leave a reviews. Reviews are my most favorite thing in the entire world.**

 **Wendy and Lily- if I could hug you, trust me, I would. You guys are Thebes's best people ever.**

 _ **Daryl POV**_

 _"Run fast for your mother and fast for your father. Run for your children, for your sisters and your brothers. Leave all your love and your longing behind. You can't carry it with you if you want to survive." - Dog Days are Over, Florence and the Machind_

It was a hard feeling to describe, holding, the strong emotions that were bubbling inside of me. I held Nicole close to my chest, sighing quietly. Like a small child, she burned her face in my shirt, blocking out the rest of the world. I could feel her tears soaking through the fabric, but I didn't care about that right now. Her entire body shuddered and trembled with each breath, each hiccup. Instinctively, I wrapped both of my arms around her, covering as much of her as I could. That was all I wanted to do right now. I just wanted to shield her from this messed up, horrible world. I wanted to hold her and tell her that everything was going to be okay, but I knew I couldn't say that, because I didn't know. For all I knew, we would all be dead tomorrow. So I did the next best thing. I held her close and let her cry.

Everyone was staring at me, eyes wide with alarm, all except Rick, Lori, and Carl, who were huddled together, not paying attention to anything in the world except for each other. I felt the mix of gazes on me, and I was about to yell at them to mind their own damn business, but when I moved Nicole whimpered in a way that was so pitiful that I couldn't bring myself to do anything about it.

"Her brother died." I said coolly. This caused everyone to look at me, even the whole Grimes clan, who looked as if someone had just hit them all in the gut with a baseball bat. I realized that this was the first time one of us had spoken in about 5 minutes, breaking the dead silence. I sighed a little, upon seeing Rick's surprised eyes at the way I was holding Cole. "She looked like she needed it." And with that, I looked back down, not bothering to see their reactions. I didn't want to. I knew I was going to get some weird speech from Rick later, but now wasn't the time to worry.

After another minute of silence, Cole finally pulled away, looking up at me with tear-stained eyes. She opened her mouth to speak, but no sounds came out, almost like she had lost the power to do it. I simply nodded at her, giving her a silent answer, one that told her that she didn't have to say anything, hell, she never even had to mention this again. It was obvious to me that she saw me like another brother to add to her list, and I was okay with that. It killed me, but I was okay with that.

"We need to go back and bury him." Hershel said quietly, leaning his rifle on his shoulder. We all nodded in agreement. As painful as it was, we couldn't just leave his body out there.

"What's that?" Patricia said suddenly, her finger pointing towards the field Cole and Rick had just come from.

"Not sure." Rick said, peering into the gloom. "I think it's...Shit." His face went as pale as a sheet. "Walkers." He hissed. As a reaction, every single one of us snapped to attention, our minds instantly clearing. We all looked intently into the distance.

"Those can't be walkers." Andrea said. "There's got to be…." Her eyes widened in horror, her hand going to the gun at her side.

They were coming up on us, like a growing, heaving, moving mass. They were a tidal wave, hell bent on our destruction. They were a super storm, heading straight for us, ready to rip us apart piece by piece. Beth gave a small squeak of fear and grabbed her father's arm. Lori pulled Carl close to her, and the boy didn't even protest. The fear around us was palpable, surrounding us in a thick, suffocating fog. And this wasn't the normal kind of fear, the kind that shook you a little. This was the kind of fear that knocked a man off of his feet, that chilled him to his very core. It was a sense of panic, of hopelessness, of fear, but it was masked by a calm face, one that I had perfected. It was the face I wore when I knew that I had to be the strong one. I could break down later, but not now. They needed me to be Daryl. They needed me to be the downhome, backwoods, crossbow shooting redneck that never backed down from a challenge and never wavered in fear. I couldn't let them see me break. I turned to Rick, and saw the same look of false stoicness in his eyes. He knew what was happening.

"We need to get out of here." He said finally, his voice only wavering slightly. "Towards the house." Everyone else just stood there, staring at him like he was crazy. Only Cole looked like she knew what was happening. She turned her hard gaze towards me. All of the sudden, she didn't look so anymore. She looked pissed.

"You heard what he said. Run!" Nicole yelled, snapping the others out of their trance. Immediately, they took off running. The hoard was moving fast, faster than usual, almost as if they were running towards us.

Rick began shouting orders at us. "T, throw the gas cans in the backs. Carl and Lori, get the food from the basement. Carol, Beth, and Maggie, get our go bags from the top. Everyone else get your weapons and get the cars running. We need to move. They'll be here any minute." Everyone hollered an unintelligible response. I looked over at Nicole beside me. Even while she was running she was getting her guns prepared.

After that it was total chaos.

We all got to the house around the same time, and immediately started running around like chickens with our heads cut off. I sprinted over towards the couch, where my stuff was. I stopped in surprise when I saw that my bag had been packed. My extra arrows were tied together next to them. Someone had gotten my stuff together earlier. Probably when they thought Randall would bring his group back. I thought to myself. Well, whatever reason they did this for, I thanked my lucky stars. Everyone else was running around in the house, their stuff all packed like mine. They had been prepared for this.

"Start the cars!" Rick screamed, stuffing guns and ammo in his holsters. I took off towards the back door, bumping shoulders with Glenn on the way there. I was going to my bike, which was next to Hershel's truck. I loved that bike. I wasn't big on the decals, but it was my brother's, and it was one of the last things of his that I had. Damnit, I was taking that bike with me. I grabbed a gas can and knelt by the bike. I could almost hear the walkers getting closer and closer every minute.I was gassing up my bike when I heard an ear-piercing scream. I instantly shot up, running around the side of the house towards the sound. I arrived just in time to see Patricia crumble to the ground, a large chunk taken out of her neck.

"No!" I screamed, loading my bow and releasing it just as quickly, nailing the ravenous monster in the middle of the head, blowing it backwards. I took a moment to look around and saw a horrible sight. The walkers were on us, faster than we had thought. This was it.

"Rick!" I called. "We gotta move!" I turned towards the house and saw Rick run out onto the porch, bags in his hands.

"Shit." He hissed. "We gotta move." He called into the house, trying to catch everyone else's attention. "Get to the cars, now!" He turned back to me, his gun raised. "Daryl, we gotta go!" And he released a round, unloading it into a monster's head. "Run!"

I turned and saw that the walkers were surro being us now. I took off running towards my bike, loading an arrow in my bow, ready to shoot. I could hear the other cars turning on. I strapped my stuff down and started the bike, watching as Hershel, Maggie, Beth, and Glenn flew towards the truc.

"Where's Patricia?" Beth cried, looking around wildly.

"Probably in another car." Hershel said, ushering her into the car. "We need to go." And with that, I pulled forwards, peeling away from the house, towards the driveway, completely not caring about the fact that I was off road. The sound of bullets rang through the air, cutting the eerie silence of the evening like a knife. The moans of the undead were deafening now. I pulled around the house, but was stopped by a giant hoard of walkers.

"Damnit." I grumbled, pulling my gun out of my belt, loading it quickly. I shot down the ones in front of me. I looked over to see the others on the porch, sending out a hail of gunfire towards the heaving mass. Rick was in front, using one of Cole's AKs. Lori was beside him, shooting as precisely as she could.

Hershel pulled up beside me, in the truck. He rolled the windows down, and Glenn leant out and began to shoot, with Maggie doing the same out the other window.

"Patricia!" Beth screamed when she caught sight of her friend's dead form. "No!" Her voice broke in pain as she leaned out the window, extending a hand in her direction. My heart broke for the innocent girl. When we had first arrived she had been wide-eyed, innocent, hopeful. Now she was cold, broken, hard. This world took any bit of hope and squashed it like an ant under a boot.

I kept firing, my attempts at focusing on my targets proving futile. We were being overrun, destroyed. We wouldn't be able to keep this up much longer.

And it was weird. Somehow, in all of this chaos, my mind wasn't focused on the walkers. I wasn't thinking about the fact that I could die, or the fact that we had to leave. No. Those were not the thoughts in my mind. There was only one thought going through my head at this point.

Where the hell is Nicole?


	18. Chapter 18

**AHHHHH! 50 favorites and 66 followers? Holy crap you guys are so flipping amazing!**

 **Sorry for the long update. As I said, I am in my freshman year of high school right now, which means I have all new teachers, classes, sports, AND I have to learn how to drive. Not much free time. But anyway, I'm here now, back and ready for more, especially with this new season! I hope you like this chapter. I put a lot of time into this one.**

 **Thanks to my lovely reviewers. You are what makes me want to keep writing. Please leave a review! You have absolutely no idea just how much your feeback means to me, the good, the bad, and the ugly. I love it all.**

 **Also, if you have any questions for me personally, like where I'm from, what I like to do, etc., or if you just want to chat, HMU! I freaking love people.**

 **Enjoy- Olivia**

 **Daryl POV**

" ** _Because I'm only a crack, in this castle of glass. I'm hardly anything there for you to see, for you to see." Castle of Glass, Linkin Park_**

In that moment, I swear my heart stopped. I looked around wildly. My heart sunk when I didn't see her mane of bright blonde hair anywhere. All I could see were the throngs of walkers swarming us. I popped off a few more rounds, taking a few of the beasts that were closest to me.

The Grimes family was still stuck on the porch, their SUV in the middle of the mass of walkers. I began to target the ones that were between them and their car. Without even speaking, Glenn did the same. Soon, we had taken down most of the ones in their way.

"Go Rick." I yell, reloading my weapon. "We've got you covered. Ain't gonna get any better than this." I added, referring to the small dip in walker numbers at this current moment. Rick eyed me and nodded solemnly, turning to face his wife.

"Now's our chance." Rick screamed. "We need to get out of here now." He kept off the porch, not even bothering to use the steps. Lori followed close behind, practically shoving Carl along. The boy had a silver knife, which looked completely foreign in his young hands. I shuddered at the thought of him ever having to use it. No one that young should have to do something like that. Granted, I had to do things like that when I was his age, and by my knowledge, so did Nicole, but that didn't mean it was a good thing. Have you seen the way the two of us turned out?

Rick blew the head off of a walker that was right by the car, blocking the driver's side door. Lori sprinted to the other side, taking out another one on her way to her door. Carl ducked in beside his father, knife at the ready. He threw the door open and launched himself into the vehicle. Lori did the same, shooting another walker before slamming her door closed. Rick was the last one to get in, narrowly missing getting scratched by a walker. I let out a long breath once I saw that they were all safe inside. Once they were in, walkers began throwing themselves at their car, smearing blood and guts all over the sides and windows. At this moment, Carol and T pulled up in their car. I desperately looked through the windows, and almost choked when I saw that no one was in the back seat. No Nicole.

"The herd is coming from the west.' Heshell yelled out the window. We need to go north or south, to get away."

"What?" Rick hollered, rolling his window down.

"We need to go north or south." Hershel repeated. "Away from the herd."

"South." Rick said firmly. "There's a town not too far south. I saw it on the map in the bar. Maybe we could hide out there for the night."

"Well whatever we do we better-Daryl! Behind you!"

I whipped my head around as fast as I could, and I was face to face with a walker. He was obviously newly turned, still having some of his skin and his clothes were still recognizable. In a flash, I raised my gun, shooting quickly. The walker collapsed only a few feet from me, but that, in my opinion, was close enough.

"Thanks." I called out, sitting back down on the bike.

"Don't thank me just yet." Hershel said gravely, motioning for me to turn around. I turned around slowly, like I didn't want to see what he was talking about, which, in this case, I didn't. All the color drained from my face when I saw just how many had joined the herd now. There were dozens of them, maybe even a hundred. They were coming from all sides out of the woods, trapping us likes flies caught in a web. They were coming up the road, creating a heaving mass so congested and thick that there was no way we could get through it with our cars. They were circling us, ready to rip us apart one by one. The deafening noise of thousands of groans rang in my ears, permanently etching itself in my brain.

"What do we do?" Glenn said, his usual composure forgotten.

"We have to find some way to get out of here." Rick said.

"There's too many." Hershel chimed in. "We would never be able to get our cars through that."

Rick sighed, as he knew that the older man was right. We had to do something else. We couldn't just sit here and wait to die.

Suddenly, an idea hit me, and the obviousness of it left me feeling quite stupid. Why hadn't I thought of this before? "We need a distraction!" I said, causing everyone to look at me. My eyes were wild and fired up.

( _Speaking of distractions- where are my readers from? SOrry. I've been up too long. Tell me in the commentsssss)_

"What?" Glenn voiced.

"A distraction, something to draw the walkers away from us." I explained.

"Daryl's right." Rick nodded. "But, what distraction? We all need to get away. We can't just cause something to happ-"

And in that exact moment, a large boom sounded, and the barn burst into flames. The force of the blast was so hard that it almost knocked me over, and succeeded in doing so with a few of the walkers. I felt the heat of the white hot flames on my face, even though the barn was at least 300 feet away. The brilliant blaze shone brightly in the sunset, separating itself from the orange haze. Smoke curled up towards the sky is large clumps.

"What the hell was that?" Maggie shrieked from the back of the truck.

"I-I have no idea." Rick said, stunned. He shook his head and blinked his eyes a couple times, as if to affirm what he was seeing was real. It most definitely was real.

"Well whatever it was," Hershel interjected. "It created one hell of a distraction. Look!" He pointed towards the walkers. We hadn't realized, in our haze, that the beasts had been just as distracted by the explosion as we had, but even more so. Slowly, the horde began to move away from us, this time instead going towards the barn.

"A distraction." Rick said in awe. "Maybe there really is a God." I turned and looked back at the flames. He was right. That had been one hell of a coincidence. Had the universe really decided to help us out with this one? Or was there some other…..

I think, for a brief moment, my heart stopped. I stared in horror at the barn. THe once mesmerizing flames were now dark and evil, like an omen of death. I poked around at all the people in the cars next to me, each of them too stunned to think anything of it. But I knew what was happening. This was no act of God. This was no freak of nature.

"No!" I called, standing up and running a little closer to the barn, stopping right next to the truck. Everyone was watching me now, utterly confused. My hands shook violently, and I gave no attempt to calm them down. My face was blanched and my mind was spinning. No, no, no, no.

"Daryl?" Rick called. "Daryl, what is it?"

"That's why-that's why-now it-..." I couldn't get out a complete sentence. I couldn't even form a complete thought. My mind was spinning. I looked out at the barn, keeping my eyes open for something, anything to tell me I was wrong. My eyes traveled all around, until they landed on the top of the small storage shed next to the barn. A part of the roof was on fire, and it looked like it was about to cave in, but that wasn't what drew my attention. No, my eyes were focused on something else. My eyes were focused on the figure that was standing on the roof.

Nicole.

She looked like some sort of demon, a figure surrounded by tongues of fire, shrouding them in eerie light. Her blonde hair was shining brightly in the light, framing her face in gold. Her muscles rippled as her body shifted on the unsteady roof. There was an AK-47 hanging loosely in her hand, he other was on her hip. From this far away, I couldn't see her face, but I could imagine what it looked like.

"Nicole!" I screamed lurching forward slightly. I saw her face look up at the sound of her name. I couldn't even process what was happening. Why was she on the roof? Did she blow it up on purpose? Was she scared right now? Excited? Confused? Disoriented? What had she done?

"Oh my god." Rick called, opening the door to his car. He stepped out quickly, stumbling clumsily towards me. "Nicole!" He cried.

"Go!" A voice called. It was hard to hear, but I could tell NIcole was yelling at us. "Get the hell out of here!"

"No! Not without you!" Rick screamed back. I wanted to say the same thing, but in that moment I knew that the odds of Nicole getting out of this situation were almost impossible. The barn was now surrounded by all of the walkers that had been attacking us a moment ago.

"You need to go, now!" She screamed hysterically. My heart broke when I heard the fear that laced her voice. I knew, in that moment, what she was doing. She wasn't planning on surviving this. She had set the barn on fire to distract them, to save us.

"Nicole!" Rick screamed again. It seemed like that was all he could do.

"I'm sorry." She said. And in a flash, the roof was swallowed in flames, and the entire shed collapsed in on itself, sending everything, including Nicole, straight to the ground, leaving nothing but a flaming pile of rubble.

"No!" I screamed, running forward. This time, I didn't stop. I ignored the screams behind me and the walkers that had turned to face me. I sprinted as fast as my legs would take me. My mind was racing, with no one thought staying in my mind for long. Images and thoughts flashed in my head like a slideshow, images of Nicole smiling, taking down a walker, crying beside Dale's grave. I saw her sleeping against the red, wrapped in a blanket, looking so fragile. I heard her voice, her beautiful low voice, singing soft melodies while she worked, singing for Dale, singing for her lost family. Every moment she had spent with us flashed in my mind.

The rubble was aflame, with smoke billowing upwards. The walkers were now milling around the barn, trying desperately to get in, just in case there was food inside. My legs numbly took me to the pile of rubble. I ignored the calls of the others behind me, telling me to get away, to come back. I tuned out their words. No, I had to do this. I had to.

I was sweating now, with my proximity to the flames. I could feel the heat radiating towards me, soaking into my skin. I coughed a little, with all the smoke around. I stopped running, and began to slowly climb into the debri.

"Nicole!" I shouted, looking around wildly. I was looking for something to tell me she was here. A foot, a hand, her hair. Anything. "Nicole!" I began pulling up wooden planks, lifting them up and carefully throwing them out of the way. I began to unwillingly hyperventilate.

The thought of her being dead was unbearable. The thought of her just waltzing into my life and just as quickly being ripped from it burned. Why would the universe do this to me? Hot tears pooled in the corners of my eyes as I threw another plank out of the way. She had to be here somewhere. Dead or alive, she had to be here.

And then I saw it. A hand. A small, delicate hand, with callouses on the palm and a scar on the wrist. You could see up until the elbow, but then a large pile of debri blocked the rest of the figure from view. "Cole!" I cried, rushing towards it. I grabbed the wood on top and flung it away, not caring where it landed.

Lying there, underneath it, was NIcole.

Her entire body was covered in ash and bits of wood. She had a large cut across her collarbone that was soaking her shirt with crimson blood. I couldn't see the rest of the damage, not with her clothes on, but I could imagine what it looked like: maybe not broken, but bruised and scratched. I looked at her entire body up and down, before I finally got the courage to look at her face. In my head I said a silent prayer. Please be passed out. Please be passed out.

When I finally got the nerve, my heart broke at what I saw. She wasn't passed out.

A cut on her forehead was dripping blood down the rest of her face. Her lips were twisted into a pained grimace, which her biting down on her bottom lip. We made eye contact, and it almost made me sick to my stomach. Her blue eyes were wide open, larger than I had ever seen them. But this time, they weren't laced with determination, or with sadness, or with strength. No. This time they were full to the brim of sheer, raw pain. Her entire body trembled as I moved the last pieces of debris away from her. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but the only sound that came out was a strained howl of pain.

My eyes flew around her entire body. Why was she in this much pain? Did she have internal bleeding? Does she have brain damage? She continued to howl. I had no idea what was happening, my eyes landed on her leg. Her left calf was completely surrounded by flames. It was burning her.

"Oh shit!" I screamed, diving at it without a second thought. I kicked her leg away and began to stomp out the flames, grunting slightly when one of them lapped at my leg. It hurt, but that little amount of pain was nothing compare to what was happening to Nicole right now.

After the fire was out, I fell to my knees beside her, cradling her head in my lap. Her cries had subsided, but her eyes and face were just as pained. "Daryl…" She said, her voice quiet and strained. She shook her head slowly. "You should have left. You should have-"

"No Nicole." I said firmly, cutting her off. I could feel a tear running down the side of my face, and I was praying that she couldn't see it. "You may have planned on dying tonight, but I didn't plan on letting you die, and I'm not changing my plans for anyone."

"I'm sorry." She whimpered. "I just wanted you to get out...I just…"

"It's okay. It's okay." I said trying to be as soothing as possible. I wasn't very good at this. I just looked at her, brushing a few drops of blood out of her face. Her eyes locked with mine and for a moment, the world stood completely still. There was no fire, no walkers trying to eat us, no immediate threat of death. It was just me and her, right there, right now. Suddenly, a loud crash tore me away from her gaze. A wooden plank landed next to me, shattering. It brought me back to reality suddenly. I looked around, sucking in a breath. My yelling had distracted the walkers from the distraction. They were now heading towards us. We had to move now.

I looked down on the ground. Her leg was badly burned. There was no way she could walk with that, let alone run. She was slipping in and out of consciousness, every few seconds closing her eyes, only to have them flutter open abruptly the next moment. No, there was no way she could get up. There was only one thing to do.

Like I had so many nights ago after the bar fight, I picked up her limp body, putting one arm under her knees, the other on her back, and I pulled her close to my chest. I was actually impressed with just how light she was. Her eyes were now closed, and her face was dripping sweat and blood all over me, but that just made me pull her even closer. I had no idea if she was awake or not, but if she was, she didn't object. I turned and ran back towards the cars, her body securely in my arms.

I could hear. Someone screaming my name over by the cars. It sounded like Rick. I picked up my pace, noticing how the walkers had started to follow me. The others quickly came into view. More of them were out of their cars now, screaming my name. Rick was the first one to see me, his face picking up a little, but then dropping again when he saw Nicole in my arms.

"Oh thank god." I heard Glenn yell, probably letting himself breathe. I met them quickly.

"What happened?" Rick asked, running over to me, hovering over Nicole, his brow creased in concern.

"Roof collapsed." I gasped. "She was gonna distract them for us." I told them, watching them all gasp in return. "She was gonna die." I added quietly, so only Rick could hear me. He turned his gaze towards me, his eyes hard.

"Well." Rick said quietly, not taking his eyes off of me.

"We need to go. The walkers are coming back." I said loudly, bringing everyone back to reality.

"Yeah, he's right." Rick said, coming back to the present. "We'll just have to go without her." The others seemed saddened by this, but reluctantly went towards their own cars.

I was utterly confused. Her? Who was he talking about?

"Rick?" I asked, shifting Nicole in my arms. "Who….?""

"Andrea." He said quietly. "She never met up with any of us. She's gone….." I shook my head solemnly. We both knew what that meant. The walkers had gotten her, but neither of us wanted to say that. "Here." He said, sticking out his arms. "I'll take her. You can't exactly lay someone down on the back of your motorcycle."

I shot a glance towards my bike and nodded slowly, gently placing her in his arms. She let out a little whimper when I pulled my arms away, and, if I am going to be honest, it made me happy,, in some weird way. Her whimper made me feel strangely content.

Rick went off towards his SUV, while I got back on my bike. AS we pulled away from the farm, all I could think of was how nice it had felt to hold her in my arms, to run my fingers through her hair. I thought of how painful it had been when I had thought she was dead, how horrible the pain was. I thought of how she had sacrificed herself for the rest of us.

And in that moment, I realized something.

Nicole Walsh.

She was the one I had been waiting for.

 **So, what do you think? You like it? I know I made Daryl a little more emotional, so sorry if he seems OOC, but it just worked better. Writing romance between two awkwardly non emotional people is difficult. Please leave a review and let me know what you think!**


	19. Chapter 19

**Holy crap you guys are the best people in the entire planet. I love all the things you say and the Pms and all the random information you give me. You have no idea just how much I love you guys.**

 **Sorry for any errors- I broke my nose, so I am on so many pain killers right now. So tired. Seriously though, it hurts like a bitch.**

 **Please, please, leave me review or some feeback. You guys are amazing!**

 ** _Nicole POV_**

 _"I hurt myself today, to see if I could feel. I focus on the pain, the only thing that's real."- Hurt, Johnny Cash_

It hurt. Everything hurt.

I wanted desperately to open my eyes, but I couldn't muster up enough energy to do so. Even when I did, it would hurt so much that I couldn't even get them all the way open. So for now, I was just going to keep my eyes closed.

I could feel the fabric underneath me vibrating softly, and I could feel the soft jerks of the stops and starts. I was in a car, that I knew. I could vaguely hear voices speaking around me, but they were muffled and distant, like they were coming at me from far away, instead of being in the small car with me.

"Is she okay?" A once was fairly low, but still on the higher side of things. It was etched with worry and fear, like they were afraid of something. Carl, a voice in my head told me.

"Not sure." A voice answered. This voice was deeper, with a heavier drawl than the boy. Rick. "We'll have to have Hershel take a look at her, but I don't think she'll be able to walk for a while."

I heard a snort come from beside him. "Serves her right too." Lori. "What was she thinking, lighting that barn on fire? It was reckless. She could've gotten herself killed!" Even in my state, I had the urge to open my mouth and unleash some sarcastic retort on the woman, but the rest of my body seemed to be disagreeing with my brain, because every time I tried to move, searing pains wracked my entire body.

Luckily, Rick came to my rescue. "Lori, she was doing it to draw the walkers away. She saved our lives! They would have swarmed the cars and broken the windows before we had even made it down the driveway." I thanked Rick in my mind. He was always there, ready to come to my rescue.

Then it hit me. I had absolutely no idea how I had gotten in this car. I had been so intent on listening to what they had to say that I hadn't even stopped and collected my own thoughts. The memory washed over me like a flood, soaking not my brain.

I was running outside to throw my stuff in a car. I saw the walkers swarming and heard them shooting. There were too many of them. There had to be a distraction, something to draw the walkers away from them. I ran around the house, just in time to watch Patricia go down. I sprinted as fast as I could to the barn, where I used the leftover oil we had in there to light the entire thing on fire. Somehow, I had climbed onto the roof of the shed next to it to get away from the walkers. I remember seeing the others at the top of the hill, staring at me. Run! I had thought. Run you idiots! And then, I was falling, the shed crumbling around me, being engulfed in flames. Everything was falling, landing heavily next to me, shattering, sending flames and embers everywhere. I had just lain there, letting the pain engulf me. I was past the point of feeling. The pain was now a part of me. There was a numbness spreading up my left leg, into my hip. And yet, I couldn't bring myself to care. I had already accepted the fact that I was going to die. Now I just had to wait it out.

I just laid there, waiting to die. I could feel myself slipping away, everything getting a little bit darker, even though I was surrounded by bright lights. And then, as my eyes began to droop even further, a figure emerged from the flames. It was a and, in dark clothes. He ran over to me and knelt down beside me, extinguishing the flames that I hadn't known were surrounding my body. He leaned over me, looking down with worry.

"Daryl…" I said weakly, meeting his gaze. But then, with a fiver of light, his face had changed. No longer was it the softened gaze of my friend, hovering over me in fear. No, it was now the steely eyed gaze of someone I thought would be gone forever.

Shane. I thought. Why are you here? Come to take me with you?

And that was all I remembered. I had absolutely no idea what happened after that, how I got out of the fire, how I got into this car. I had no idea where we were, where we were going, what we were doing, or what our plan was.

All of this thinking caused my head to start spinning. Obviously, I was in no shape to be using that much brain power. Everything became fuzzy in my mind before I finally went under once again.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I was hoping that the second time I woke up everything wouldn't hurt as much. Boy, was I wrong. If anything, it hurt worse. The numbness in my leg had subsided, giving way to a sharp, searing pain that ran the entire way up my calf. Tentatively, I moved it a little, and instantly regretted it. I let out a low moan of pain and bruised myself deeply into the backrest of the car seat.

Wait, since when do car seats have heartbeats? Since when did they breathe?

Suddenly, I noticed the arms that were around me, underneath my back and my knees, keeping me cradled above the ground. I could feel the steady rhythm of their footsteps, slowly lifting me up and down with each stride. I could almost hear their heart beating next to me.

Slowly, I opened my eyes. I was prepared to be met with the harsh glare of sunlight, but instead was met with a blank wall of gray. My head was spinning with dizziness, it I forced myself to turn my face away from the wall of warmth and instead to look up. This time, I really was met with the sunlight, and I swear it burned. I took a long time for my eyes to adjust to the harsh glare, and I squinted to try and ease the process alarm. When I could finally see straight, I peeked upwards, trying to see the face of my unidentified ride. I was surprised when I looked up.

It was Daryl that was holding me. His head was framed in sunlight, making it look like he was glowing. His eyes were steely as they looked forwards, focused on the path in front of him. From thankless I could see that he was starting to get a bit of a beard, not a full on hillbilly nightmare, but more like manly scruff, which outlined his powerful jaw. I found myself staring at him for about a minute or so, before he finally glanced down and noticed me.

I had not expected to see the smile that proceeded to light up his face. He looked down at me, his eyes now warm with content. "Hey there idiot." He said softly, smirking at my face. "Never took you to be a fan of pyrotechnics." He said the last part jokingly.

"I basically threatened to dismember a guy the other day, and you think I don't like fire? Daryl, I'm disappointed." I retorted, forcing the words out with as much strength as I could muster. I was still exhausted, all though I had no idea why. I hadn't done anything but sleep in the past…. who the hell knows how long.

"True, true." He laughed. I felt the vibrations from his laughter as they came off his chest, causing goosebumps to erupt all over my arms. I fought with all I had to keep a blush from rising in my cheeks. If I was succeeding or not, I had no idea.

"How long was I out?" I asked, very curious.

The smile on his face wavered, but did not go away. "Almost a whole day. But, you didn't miss much. It. Was all a bunch of driving. Rick had you in the back of his car."

I nodded. "I knew that. I woke up a few hours ago, heard them talking."

He shrugged. "Makes sense. Hershel thought you would go in and out for a while, until the pain went away."

My face went pale. Up until that moment, I had completely forgotten about my injury, about all the pain. Talking to Daryl had distracted me from it, and really had just shoved me back into the deep end. A pain shot up my left leg, and it began to throb limply. My stomach rolled with the sudden feelings and I let out a pitiful cry, cringing slightly. Gently, he pulled me in closer, pressing me even more so against his chest. I could feel a few tears slipping down my face, and I was worried that he could feel them too, but there was nothing I can do about it now.

"It's alright Cole." He said soothingly, even though that tone of voice sounded utterly foreign coming from him. "It's alright. Once we get settled I'll get Hershel look at your leg. You'll be okay." I was crying now, not even bothering to try and stop it. THe pain was too real. Every time I thought it was going away it would just resurge and wash over me once more. My mind was fuzzy with pain and I squeezed my eyes shut, as if that would help me feel better. My breathing was ragged and strained, like it was a difficult chore rather than a natural occurrence.

"Ahh." I cried, my stomach flipping once more.

"Shhh. Shhh." He cooed, readjusting his grip so I was a little higher up. My mind was spinning, and I knew that I was going to go back under any second.

But before I slipped, I felt a warm pressure on my face as I felt a kiss being pressed to my temple.

And with that, I went into the blackness once more.

Daryl POV

My heart broke for her. She clung desperately to my shirt, whimpering pathetically. I could feel her tears soaking through my shirt, but I couldn't bring myself to mind.

Her leg was nasty. It was messed up. The flesh was burned, definitely 3rd degree. The little flesh remaining was red and raw, with the edges charred and torn. Lori had wrapped it up in an old t-shirt to protect the newly exposed flesh, but until Hershel could take a look at it, she was stuck with just the wrap. Maybe we could find her some painkillers or antibiotics at a pharmacy nearby. Maybe we could find some medical supplies. God I hoped we could. Seeing her in this much pain almost cut me to the core.

Slowly, her grip on me weakened, until her hands fell limply on top of her. I smiled a little, knowing that she was passed out. At least she wasn't in pain anymore.

I looked down at her tired face. Her blonde hair was braided messily. Her pants were ruined and torn, creating a half pair of pants. I could feel her soft breathing against my chest, and I smiled gently.

Slowly, I leaned over a planted a soft kiss on her temple. If I couldn't kiss her while she was awake, this would have to do.

"I'm really glad you didn't die."

Please leave a review!


	20. Chapter 20

**WOW! The response I got from my last chapter was amazing! You guys are to literally the best! Thank you to all of my new reviewers. Always love feedback. I have a feeling this will be a good chapter...but I literally typed it in the dark backstage area between scenes of our musical. We open up this weekend, and instead of rehearsing like a good child, I have been writing fanfiction, so you better like this one.**

 **I'm off to go put on a musical. Please pray that I do not lose my voice or forget my lines.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Nicole POV**

 **"** ** _Regrets collect like old friends, here to relive your darkest moments. I can see no way. I can see no way." Shake It Out, Florence and the Machine_**

I held my position for a moment, my aim unwavering as my eyes zeroed in on my was small, but at this point I would take whatever I could find. He was so intently focused on the nut that he was eating the he didn't even notice my arrow being aimed at him. In a brief moment, I let my arrow fly, releasing it from the string. Before the helpless creature could react it had already nailed him in the eye, killing him swiftly and cleanly. I crept forwards, gently using four fingers to remove the arrow from the squirrel. I wiped off the tip and then put it back in it's holster, ready to use for another day.

I placed the squirrel in my pathetically empty game bag. We were having pretty bad luck in the food department now. Actually, we hadn't been doing well for about 2 months now. It was probably about mid-February by my estimations, and it was pretty cold. Hunting was rare, and even when we could catch something, it wouldn't be enough. There were 11 of us, and one squirrel was not enough to satiate us all.

It had been about 5 and a half months since we left the farm, and nothing had been going our way since. Every day we traveled and stopped at different houses, raiding pantries and cupboards, taking clothes and whatever else we could find. Then, we would stay the night, but we could never stay in any one place for too long until the walkers came. That was why we had to keep moving. They never stopped following.

As quickly as I could, I limped back to the group, pulling my coat more tightly around my shivering body. My burn had healed up for the most part, but there was still a nasty scar running up my calf, and I still couldn't walk properly. Those first few days after it had happened had been the worst. We had just started moving around, and I wasn't able to help with anything. All I could do was sit in the back of a car. We had gone down from three cars to two, to save gas. Daryl still had his bike, which he rode in the front of the caravan. Rick, Lori, Carl, and Carol all rode in their SUV, while T, Maggie, Glenn, Hershel, and Beth rode in the truck. I switched around, depending on who wanted to have me that day. It was boring few months.

"Get anything?" Daryl said gruffly when I got back to the cars. He had gone out earlier, with no luck whatsoever. I shrugged, opening the bag.

"A squirrel. Not much, but something." I said weakly, tossing the bag towards him. He caught it with one hand, looking into the bag.

"More than I got." He offered, closing the bag. "Let's get inside. It'll be dark soon." I nodded, adjusting the strap of my gun. Silently, we walked towards the house where we were staying for the night.

These past few months had been…...interesting. I wasn't sure what it was, but it seemed like there was something going on with Daryl. Ever since I had lit the barn on fire….. I don't know. He always stared at me, and when I looked at him he would look away. Every time we were left alone he would awkwardly leave to go do something else. I couldn't understand why he was acting like this. Something was off.

I had been so absorbed in my own thought that I had not realized that Daryl had been speaking this entire time.

"-Lori can have most of the meat. She needs it." He finished, looking at me. "And you can have most of the rest of it."

I cocked an eyebrow. "Me?" I asked. "Daryl, I'm like, the smallest one. If anything, I need less food than the rest of you."

"But you're injured." Daryl said knowingly, looking down at my leg.

"I'm fine Daryl." I grumbled, moving my leg so I was standing in a more comfortable position. The weight change caused me to grunt, and it came out too fast for me to stifle it.

"Sure. Fine." He rolled his eyes. "Keep telling yourself that. The rest of us will be over here making sure you don't do anything stupid.'

I bit my tongue lightly. "What does that mean?" I hissed, looking up at his face.

"Nothing." He mumbled, looking away.

"Daryl.." I said, my tone low and warning. This is what I was talking about. He was being awkward, judgey, moody. He acted like he hated me, and now I was going to learn why.

"It means that I can see through it." He told me calmly, lowering his gaze to meet mine. His dark eyes were soft, but hardened in the middle, like his focus wasn't entirely on me.

"See through what?" I spat. I couldn't see it, but I bet my gaze was stone cold.

"Your act Nicole. I can see through it." His voice stayed steady through the entire thing, though I could tell it was. A battle for him. "Every day you carry on. You carry on like you're not in pain, like your leg isn't killing you. You carry on like you didn't almost get burned alive. You carry on like you didn't have to witness your best friend killing your brother, like you didn't have to kill the creature he became. I don't understand you Nicole! God! Do you feel anything at all? Every time I want to ask you about it I lose the nerve, because I didn't want to ruin our relationship, but this had gone too far. This isn't healthy Cole! People need to feel things. It's who we are."

That was it. He finally snapped. All the confusion and anger and awkwardness that had been bubbling up over the past few months finally boiled over, and left us with this mess to clean up. I could feel tears stinging in the corners of my eyes, and I fought with all of my might to keep them at bay. I swallowed the lump in my throat, bringing my gaze once more to him. His eyes were now completely hardened with anger. I winced a little under his harsh glare, unprepared for it's sting.

'Is that what you think?" I said quietly, my voice barely a whisper. I wanted to speak up, but I couldn't seem to make my voice go any louder. "Do you think that I don't feel anything? That I don't care?" I shook my head. "Well you're wrong. Don't you think I know that I watched my brother die? Twice? Don't you think I miss him every single day? Yes, SHane was an ass, but he was my brother. Do you not think I feel that?"

"Cole I-" He started to speak but I cut him off.

"No Daryl. No. You think I don't feel? Well I do. I miss him Daryl. I miss my big brother more than words can say. I miss my friends, I miss my school. I miss my job. I miss my life! Do you know why I don't show my emotion Daryl? It's because everyone else in our goddamn group is so volatile. WE need someone that we know isn't going to emotionally spaz out one of these days. I keep my emotions in check so the others won't freak out. Don't you think I want cry every time I have to run on my leg? Don't you think I have a miniature panic attack every time someone mentions Shane's name? Of course I do Daryl!" I was crying now, not bothering to hide my emotion anymore. I was past the point of mad. I was raging now. How dare he! How dare he make so many assumptions about me! "I just-I can't- I have to…." I was at the point of hyperventilating. "Do you think I like this? Do you think I want to feel this way?"

"You know what?" He cut. "I think you do like. You must like it!"

"What?" I screamed.

"You heard me. I think you like doing hints like this- lighting buildings on fire, sacrificing yourself to the walkers. You have to enjoy it! Why else would you do things like that?" He screamed back, his deep voice booming, causing me to cower slightly. I hadn't expected him retaliate like that. He seemed worked up by all of this, way more worked up when than he should be. "Why do you do things like that? Why do you do things that could kill you?'

"Because I have nothing left to live for!"

Silence. That was my response. I had thrown my gaze to the ground in my last fit of anger, and now I was afraid to look up. I could hear his ragged breathing as tears slipped down my nose, hesitating on the tip before landing on the ground softly.

The silence was unbearable, but I still could not bring myself to break it. Something about what I had said. It had cut him, in a way that I could not comprehend. I could see his feet shifting slightly across from mine, crushing the grass slightly. My hands were shaking slightly and I could feel my breath getting quicker.

"Is that what you think?" HIs voice was a complete change from what it was earlier. No longer was it sharp and cutting. No, noe, it was something that was almost worse. His voice was full of pain, like something was hurting him while he spoke. "That you have nothing left to live for?"

I just shook my head, keeping my gaze locked on the ground. "I have no one left Daryl." I said quietly. "My family is gone."

"No. No Nicole. You are not allowed to think like that. Even if your family is gone, there are still so many people who need you. Rick. He loves you with all he has. You're his best friend. And Lori, with that baby she is going to need you as much as she can get you. And Carl, you're like his big sister. What would it do to him if you died? And Carol, and T, and Maggie, and Glenn. They all need you. You are a part of this group now Nicole, and don't you forget it. We need you." He said gently, and I felt his hand rest on my shoulder. Then, bringing his voice even lower, he added the last part so quietly that I thought i had imagined it.

"I need you Nicole."

I froze, a shiver shooting up my entire body, freezing me in place. What had he just said? The shaking in my hands increased as I looked up, my eyes wide. I was met by his gaze, every trace of anger and annoyance gone, replaced only by gentleness and warmth.

"Daryl-"

He put his hands on my cheek. I shuddered slightly at the warmth they gave me.

"Shh." He cut me off softly. "Nicole you can't think like that 're not the only that lost everything. I had already lost the rest of my family before all of it went to shit. And now my brother's gone and- you just can't go off doing things like that anymore. You may not have a reason to live, but I have my own reasons for wanting you to live. Call me selfish or whatever, but it's true. I-I need you to be alive, for me."

And then he kissed me.

Huh? Huh? What did I tell you? WHAT DID I TELL YOU?


	21. Chapter 21

**Hey guys! My nose is all better guys! I hope everyone had an awesome Thanksgiving, and if you didn't celebrate it, for one reason or another, I hope you just have a happy life! This chapter is mostly just fluffy cotton candy-BUT DUDES I GOT SO MANY REVIEWS ON THE LAST CHAPTER! You guys are all the best people ever!**

 **Please continue with the feedback. It makes me so happy. Let me know if you have any ideas for this Tory. I know it's kind of long and rambles a lot, but I love it, soooo... you're just gonna have to deal**

 **Just kidding. I love you guys.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Daryl POV**

 **"** ** _I'm standing where the lightening strikes, and I know this doesn't happen twice. You must be my once in a lifetime."- Once in a Lifetime, Landon Austin_**

I had gone through this moment over and over in my head, trying to imagine what it would be like, what it would be like to grab her beautiful, delicate face, to have her soft lips connect with mine in a moment of pure. I hadn't planned on kissing her today. I hadn't really planned on kissing her ever, but seeing her so vulnerable, so raw in front of me… I had thrown all of my preconceived notions out the window.

And all I could say was wow.

I was prepared for her to push me away, to hit me in the face in her pure Nicole fashion. I already had my excuse planned out- I was sleep deprived going crazy from hunger, dehydrated. I didn't know what I was doing. I was ready to get on my knees to beg for her forgiveness,

But she didn't push me away. Instead, she pulled closer.

I leaned into the kiss, deepening it. She leaned in as well, putting her hand on my back. I moved my hands from her cheeks and into her hair, playing with her blonde curls. She put the other hand on my back and pulled me closer to her. She had to get on the tips of her toes to reach me, and I bent down slightly to make life easier. My eyes were shut, and I didn't want to open them, in the fear of ruining this perfect moment. If I could freeze time, if I could stay in a moment forever, It would be this one, this one perfect moment, where there were no walkers, no threat of starvation, no dead brothers, not constant fear of dying. All there was in this moment was me and her.

We pulled away after a few minutes giving ourselves time to breathe and get our bearings. She took a step back from me, breathing heavily. Her eyes shot up to my face, and I was worried she would freak out, but she didn't. She just looked at me, blue eyes wide and unreadable, larger than I had ever seen them.

"Daryl…" she said slowly, stepping closer to me.

"I'm sorry." I said quickly, cutting her off before she could say anything. "It's been a crazy couple of days. I'm tired and dehydrated and I wasn't…"

"Daryl!" She yelled, catching me off guard. I closed my mouth, and I looked down at her. She smirked slightly, putting her hand on my shoulder. "Shut up." I obeyed, keeping my mouth shut, even though I was screaming inside.

"Why did you apologize?" She asked, her icy gaze meeting mine, causing my insides to freeze. I raised an eyebrow, confused by her question. "Just now. Your first instinct was to apologize to me. Why?"

I thought for a moment. Why did I apologize? Why was my first instinct to shy away from these emotions? "I...I don't normally do things like that. I'm a pretty unpredictable guy, but in the sense where you won't know if I'll be there tomorrow. I'm not normally like this. I don't show much emotion, not this kind of emotion anyway. It's….it's stupid." I looked away, shaking my head. How had I been so stupid?

I heard a small laugh escape Nicole's lips. It was short and random, but then it gave way into a much louder, longer laugh. It was sweet, yet gravelly and low. I looked back at her, wondering what was so funny. A bright smile had spread across her face, reaching from ear to ear. Her eyes were squinted, with small tears pooling in the corners. Her whole face was flushed red. Her whole body was moving with the force of her laugh.

"What?" I looked around, trying to see what was so funny. WHen I saw nothing, I furrowed my brown in confusion. "Cole what is it?"

"I'm sorry." She shook her head. "It's not actually all that funny. It's just that, you're over here talking about how you can't show your emotions, even though I am one of the least open people in the world! You think you don't know how to show how you feel? Hah. I loved my brother, even though he was a dick… but then he died before I got the chance to tell him. And then, and then I had to kill him!" She was laughing really hard now, but it was past the point of humor. She was laughing crazily, almost painfully. Her eyes were wild and glazed with tears. "And I cut my step father's hand off, and I had to kill all of my friends, and Jack is probably dead and I couldn't even tell him…" She trailed off, taking a moment to breathe, her laughter subsiding. Her smile was replaced with a hard grimace, as her voice took on a darker tone. "They were gone. Before I knew it….they were all gone. All of them. Everyone I loved, all the people I had ever known, had disappeared…." She took a shaky breath, calming her nerves. "I've never been known as someone who could express their feelings. How can I tell people how I feel if I don't even know how I feel? And then you go and kiss me and confuse me and get me all messed up in the head….

…...and I didn't stop you." The last part was so quiet that I almost missed it, but I knew that i didn't. My heart kept in my chest at those words. She had let me kiss her. She had wanted me to kiss her. She hadn't stopped me, even though she could have.

"You didn't stop me." I repeated putting a hand on her cheek, feeling her warmth, the steady movement of her muscles, tensing and relaxing.

"I-I didn't stop you." She looked up at me, giving me a small smile. I laughed at her surprised expression, before ] pulled her close again. This time, there was no fear, no surprise, no nervousness. It was a burning fiery kiss like the first, but it was still as intense, Iike the glowing embers of a fire. It burned with every movement.

She smiled into the kiss, leaning closer to me, wrapping her arms around me. I pulled her face closer to mine, wanting her to be as close to me as possible.

Slowly, she pulled away, but immediately buried herself in my chest. My arms surrounded her like a protective blanket. I buried my nose in her curly blonde hair, breathing in the scent. She smelled like-warmth. If warmth had a smell, that's what it would be like. Sunshine and rain, gunpowder and trees, dirt and flowers, a mix of the beautiful and the ugly, the gentle and the painful, the timid and the bold, a mix of all the things that made Nicole, Nicole.

It was stupid. I was Daryl Dixon. I was the redneck loner who had joined this group purely for survival. I was brash and aggressive and separated and everything that made me the least likely person to help a group of people survive. I was cold, hardened by my years of struggle. I had resigned myself years ago to the fact that no one would ever love me, and not like my mother or Merle. No woman could ever love me in that way, and I would never be able to love anyone in hat wa either. I had learned from a young age that all love brought you was pain and heartbreak and struggle, with only fleeting moments of happiness in between.

Love is one nasty son of bitch, and he gets you when you're least expecting.

 **OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO**

Rick's POV

I tucked a hair behind Lori's ear, watching her body move up and down with each breath. I watched her like a hawk nowadays, waiting for the inevitable day where she went into labor. I was trying to put that day in the back of my find, but I couldn't avoid it much now. It was/going to happen soon. What if it killed her? What if she died? What was I going to do with a new baby if Lori wasn't there?

I had been so focused on Lori that I hadn't noticed how late it had gotten. We had chosen a small farm house to stay the night in. The others were scattered around, resting and scavenging. Cole and Daryl had gone hunting. I was sitting with Lori, who was asleep on the bed in the master bedroom.

I got up, shaking my head. I had to clear these thoughts from my mind. All I had to focus on was the present, the here and now. I couldn't afford to think like that. I was the leader of this group. They looked up to me. They followed me. The trusted me. I couldn't let them down.

The house was fairly quiet, with most people just lounging around. Carl was organizing his stuff in his pack, making it 'more efficient'. T was cleaning a few of the guns, having become a master at it, like Nikki and I. Carol was washing some of the clothes, which were now faded and torn, but we didn't care. It wasn't like anyone was really going to see us, or care about what we were wearing for that matter.

"Hey Rick." Carol smiled, nodding in my direction. "How's Lori?"

"Asleep." I answered. I wiped the little beads of sweat off of my brow, listening as my joints popped. "God, why do I feel so old?" I joked.

"Lord if I know!" Carol smiled, chuckling a little. She always amazed me with her positivity. She always kept her spirits up, even in the face of hard times, like losing her daughter. She bounced back so quickly. She was a survivor.

"I'm gonna go get some air." I said, rolling my sleeves up.

"I'll be here." She chuckled, going back to her chore.

I opened up the front door, holstering my gun, just in case. There was an old swing on the front porch, painted pale blue. I walked over and sat down slowly, careful not to break it. Gently, I began to push myself back and forth, trying to push my troubles to the back of my mind. Now was not the time to worry about that. I just let the gentle motion relax me. I had to be strong, for Lori, for Carl, for the baby, for all the others. I had to be the Rick they needed me to be.

A loud noise caught my attention. It didn't sound like a scream, or a yell. It sounded more like….a laugh. Yeah, it was a laugh. But...where was it coming from? It was coming from the other side of the house, to the left. I carefully placed my hand on the handle of my gun, at the ready in case I was faced with someone I did not know. Using all of my years of training, I carefully tiptoed around the house. The laughing cut off abruptly, and I was now faced with complete silence. Maybe they had left? With every step I was mentally preparing myself for the possibility of a group of strangers being outside the house. I grazed the silver trigger with my finger, before sharply turning the corner, eyes alert.

I saw nothing for a few moments, nothing out of the ordinary.

And then my breath caught in my throat.

There were two figures in front of me, one smaller, one much larger. The smaller one had long hair that was blowing crazily in the wind, surrounding the two like a cloud of curls. They were both covered head to toe in weapons and game bags and dirt.

And they were kissing.

Like full on, hands in the hair, tip-toes kissing.

It was Daryl and Nicole.

What the hell?

 **Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh...**


	22. Chapter 22

**I AM BACK BITCHEZZZ. Sorry about that very long hiatus there. I was hella busy for a while there. Hope everyone is having a happy new year. What are all y'all' resolutions? Mine is to write more.**

 **Thank you for for the reviews and for all the wonderful feedback. Out of all the stories I have, you are by far my favorite readers! Let me here your feedback, criticisms, ideas, and reviews.**

 **Much love!**

 **Carol POV**

 _ **"Oh, it's what you do to me. Oh, it's what you do to me."- Hey There Delilah, Plain White T's**_

I felt useless. Not to say that I was entirely useless, but it sure as hell felt that way. Everyone in our group had a job. Rick was our leader, filling in where ever he was needed. Nicole and Daryl were hunters, catching as much food as they could. And even when they weren't, they were protecting us, finding gas for the cars, getting meds from pharmacies, working with their weapons. T was our body guard, almost. Hershel was our doctor. Maggie and Glenn were our runners, going on errands and scavenging for supplies. Even Carl was learning how to use his weapon. The only ones left were me, Lori, and Beth. Great, me, the pregnant one, and the wide-eyed innocent. Now, I couldn't really blame Lori. She had a full time job, growing a human. But Beth, seriously the girl really didn't do much. She wasn't a fighter, she was too kind. Hershel was trying to teach her his skills, and she wasn't too bad, but she still had a lot to learn. That left me to do all the cleaning and cooking, like a 1950s housewife.

Woohoo.

But I took that job seriously. Someone had to do it. Without me, none of these people would have anything to wear. Seriously.

I was up to my elbows in the slightly soapy water, washing a blood stain out of Daryl's shirt. It was in the middle of the chest, from where he had carried Nicole into the house. To be fair, almost all of his shirts had blood on them, but this was the first one he had asked me personally to wash. I guess he liked this shirt.

"Hey Carol." A small voice said next to me. I turned and was met with the sleepy brown eyes of Lori, who was leaning against the frame of the archway.

"Hey there." I smiled, nodding because I could not wave. "How'd you sleep?"

"As well as I could." She shrugged, placing a hand on her swollen belly. "I'm just ready for this one to get off of my bladder."

I laughed. "Oh, don't I know it. When I was pregnant, Sophia never let up. I had to pee all the time." Over the past few months, talking about Sophia had become easier and easier. Honestly, at this point, it was almost a relief. Watching how stressed out Lori was over the safety of Carl and the baby made me realize that maybe it was for the best. Sophia had never been a fighter, and I don't think she would have been able to handle this.

"I'm just glad that there's another moth- another woman who's been pregnant here. I swear. These men, they just don't understand what I'm going trough. And Maggie and Beth don't know it, and Nicole is nowhere near having a kid, so I just really enjoy getting to talk to you." Lori gave me a big smile, sitting down heavily on one of the chairs next to me. I smiled back, taking my hands and the shirt out of the water, drying them off.

"No problem sweetie." I said, grabbing her hand. "I'm happy to help. At least now I feel like I'm of some use."

The earned a laugh from Lori. "Ain't that the truth. Ever since I started showing, I feel like they won't let me do anything. I mean seriously. I'm not dead. I'm pregnant."

"Exactly! Everyone else is doing something, and I'm just over here washing clothes and cleaning cars and crap like that. Even Nikki gets to do stuff, and she's injured! I can't believe Rick is letting her work with how messed up her leg is. If that had been you or me, we wouldn't have been allowed to leave the camp if few had pulled a stunt like her." I ranted, drying off some of the clothes in front of me.

Lori took some of the clothes and began to help dry them. "I know. She's a flight risk. She lit the barn on fire for Christ's sake. I don't think she's okay."

"What do you mean?" I asked, continuing my drying and folding.

"She watched her brother die Carol, and then she had to kill him. And then she almost got burned alive. That's too much for one person. One of these days she is going to snap."

I sat there for a moment and thought about what Lori was saying. I hadn't thought about it before, but I hadn't seen her cry, not since right after Shane died. I hadn't seen her cry, or rant, or act out. Hell, she barely spoke. She just woke up every day, went out hunting or scavenging, and came back, ate, if we had anything, and slept. That was all she did. She spoke to Rick, but that was about it.

I opened my mouth to say something in return, but was cut off by a loud noise.

"I don't need you attitude Dixon." A voice chuckled. The door to the kitchen swung open, and Nicole waltzed in, a bag of something slung over her shoulder, her bow on the other. She was smiling. Actually smiling. "Because I think it was good."

"You just hate losing." Daryl followed her in, carrying another bag of food.

Nicole laughed, turned, and elbowed the man in the gut, rolling her eyes. "Whatever asshole." But her words weren't mean spirited. They were lively, like they were joking with each other. Wait, they were joking with each other.

"Umm, hello." I said, catching both of their attention. They both turned and smiled, beaming at me.

"Hey Carol." Daryl nodded, taking his coat off.

"Hi." Nicole smiled, sling the bag off of her shoulder. "Carol, you'll never believe it."

"What?" I asked, raising an eyebrow, a little afraid of the smirk on her face.

"I got some squirrels." She grinned, opening the bag, revealing a few squirrels. They weren't the fattiest ones ever, but damn, that didn't matter. It was meat, real meat. We hadn't had that in days.

"Oh NIkki!" Lori cried, looking up at the smaller girl. "Thank you so much."

"No problem." She shrugged, still smiling wide. "Now if you will excuse me,I have to go and clean myself off. Got a little squirrel blood on me."

"Sure." I nodded. "I'll let you know when we have it all cooked up."

"Great." She gave me a thumbs up and waltzed off, taking off her coat as she went.

I turned to Daryl, who was now going through the bag. "You get anything?" I questioned.

He shook his head. "I didn't get anything. No food at least."

"Well, at least Nicole got something." Lori offered, leaning back in the chair.

"Yeah. Jus' do me a favor. Would ya'?" He looked at the two of us. We both nodded.

"What?"

"Make sure Cole eats some of this. She needs to keep her strength up, so her leg will heal. She'll tell that she's fine, but she's lying. Make her eat." His tone was serious. He truly meant what he was saying.

'Uhh, yeah. Okay." I nodded. "I'll make sure she eats." I was very confused as to why he felt this strongly, but I decided not to push the issue further.

"Thanks." He said, before turning and slipping out of the kitchen. Lori turned to me, eyebrows raised.

"That was…."

"Odd." She finished. "Definitely odd."

'Was she humming?"

"Were they joking?"

"Are they friends?"

"I have no idea." I said honestly. "I guess they're friends now? Apparently they'll talk to each other."

"Maybe they both just needed to find someone as emotionally and physically volatile as they are to be friends with." I laughed, looking back to the task at my hand. I just laughed and rolled my eyes choosing to let the situation go. Who am I to judge people's friendships?

We kept on drying our clothes for a few more minutes, until the door opened again, ringing the peaceful monotony. I turned and saw Rick standing there in the doorframe, looking absolutely shell shocked,

Lori noticed this too, because she immediately stood up and went over to her husband. "Rick, what is it? You look like you've seen a ghost."

He just shook his head, coming into the room, shutting the door. His eyes were huge and surprised. What was wrong with him?

"Rick, what's wrong?"

"Nothing." He shook his head, taking his coat off. "It's nothing. I'm… it's nothing.

"Are you sure?" Lori questioned. "It doesn't seem like nothing."

"No really it's..it's fine. I just, I just need to rest a little. That's all." He stammered, slowly walking out of the room. As he crossed into the living room, I heard him quietly exclaim "Holy SHIT."

And then he disappeared upstairs.

"What the did he see?" Lori said out loud.

"not sure. But whatever it was, it must have been terrifying, disgusting, horrible."

Huh. I wonder.

 **So... whadya think?**


	23. Chapter 23

**Another chapter for another day. Happy Valentine's Day to all of you. I'm lonely, ugly, and single, but it's okay. I have my FanFiction to keep me company. Anyway, what are your plans?**

 **enjoy!**

 **Daryl POV**

 _ **"Thanks for the memories, even though they weren't so good."- Thanks for the Memories, Fall Out Boy**_

I pulled my sweaty t-shirt over my head, sighing as it came off of me, like some weight had been released. It was cold outside. I think it's February, but that's just a guess. Some of the others were counting, but I didn't really see the point in it. It wasn't like I had much to look forward to.

I looked at myself in the mirror. I was getting thin from the lack food and all the running around. I had been eating a lot less than some of the others. I didn't need it as much as they did. I was raised in a world where I had to get my own food. I had gone days without food before, so I could handle it. I definitely didn't have to eat as much as Lori, and Nicole needed food more than she was letting on. She was so used to putting on a brave face for everyone else that she wasn't willing to admit it to herself.

My skin still burned from her touch. It was weird, I never felt this way. Ever. I'm not some emotional guy. I don't open up to people, but for some reason, she just did that to me.

The scar on my chest was even more prominent now, with my weight loss, sitting there on my chest like a brand, marking me as a victim. It was jagged, running all the way from my collar bone to the end of my rib cage. I had had that scar since I was fourteen, courtesy of my drunk ass father, his buddies, and a shattered bottle of cheap whiskey. As soon as it had happened, my father had brought me to the hospital, got me stitched up, and took me home. Told me that if I ever told anyone it would get worse. I never told anyone. Not my mother, not Merle, out of fear of what my father would do. To this day, I still kept it secret. I wasn't afraid of my father anymore, but at this point, I was more ashamed than anything else. I was supposed to be some strong man, but I still didn't have the guts to tell anyone.

I grabbed the rusted handle on the sink and turned it, letting the cold water flow in a small, steady stream. I reached my hands under, letting the water rinse the dirt and blood off of my hands. I scrubbed slowly, working it all away. I cupped my hands, gathered a small pool and splashed my face. The water was nice and refreshing, hitting me like a wall. I rubbed my face, trying to get it as clean as possible.

I did this for a few minutes, just letting the water relax my tired body and mind. I was washing away everything that had just happened, getting it out of my already cluttered brain.

"Oh shit!" Glenn's voice screamed from downstairs, followed by a loud rustling noise. "Everybody! We gotta move. We got walkers coming in from the north and south!"

I groaned out loud, completely fed up with these flesh eating bastards. Could I just have a few uninterrupted days? Apparently not. I grabbed my ratty shirt and pulled it back on, before I ripped the door open.

The house was crazy, but it was organized chaos. We had been through this routine so many times that it was a habit at this point. Settle down, find some food, get clean, get attacked, leave. It was as simple as that. Maggie, Beth, and Hershel flew past me and down the stairs in a blur, their bags and weapons in hand. Maggie had some extra necessities, Hershel had the medical supplies, and Beth carried a mix of everything. Everyone had a job in an evacuation, and mine was to make sure everyone got out. After what had happened at the farm, Rick had been very adamant about leaving no man or woman behind, and I had to say that I agreed with him.

I began opening doors, slamming them as hard as I could. I would peer in and look around, making sure it was empty before moving on. I threw open the third door, only to be face to face with Nicole, who had a bag on her back and two guns slung over her shoulder, with another two holstered at her belt. She was also wearing no shirt, just a sports bra. Obviously she had been getting cleaned up.

"Daryl!" She said surprised, stepping back a little. "I'm the last one I think. Carl already passed me and the others were downstairs."

"Uh yeah. Okay good."I awkwardly nodded. I was having a hard time focusing, because, since I was so much taller, I was looking straight at her chest. I wasn't trying to, but it was one of those moments where you just can't control what you are doing.

"Um, you're not a very good door there Dixon." She laughed, drawing my attention back to her face. "Mind letting me through?"

"Oh, yeah." I said numbly, stepping aside. She rushed past me, her hair flying up and brushing my chin. I got my bearings and took a quick look around, just for confirmation's sake. I quickly swept through the last two rooms, finally rushing back to grab my own bag when I knew that everyone was out. I grabbed the my bow hastily and sprinted down the stairs.

"All good Daryl?" Rick asked as I practically tripped over the last step.

"Yeah. I should be it." I answered. The man nodded.

"Alright. We're heading west." He shouted, turning and running to the door. I followed quickly, readying my bow. When the door opened, the afternoon sun was blinding, hanging in front of us like a picture, a very bright picture. Everyone else was loading into the cars. We were down to two cars now, with each one packed full of supplies and people. I was still following on my bike. Something about being cooped up in car with a bunch of other people did not sit well with me.

There were walkers converging from almost all sides, slowly but surely making their way towards us. None of them were close enough to be a threat, but that didn't mean that I wasn't ready for another fight. Rick was the last one to get in the car, his door closing with a defining thud. The engines roared to life as he pulled out of their as quickly as the car would go. T-Dog followed in the other car, and I followed close behind, leaving behind the house, letting the walkers converge upon the frame.

The wind whistled past my ears as I rode behind them. I wasn't sure where we were going, but I trusted Rick enough to follow his lead, and I knew that the walkers couldn't get to me at this speed. Moments like this were the only times I could relax nowadays.

I sat on my bike, wincing in pain. My bullet wound still wasn't completely healed and if I overworked myself it hurt like a bitch, not that I would ever tell anyone that. I could barely see straight right now, with all the images swirling in my head, images of hope and destruction, of light and dark, of pain and peace, of air and fire, images of a person willing to die for those she loved.

Rick slowly put her limp body in the backseat of his SUV, with a little help from Carl. He quickly closed the door and got in himself, starting the car. The walkers were being drawn towards the flames, exactly what Nicole had intended to happen, so our path was almost clear. With the roar of an engine, we peeled out of there.

I can't say that I was sad to leave the farm. Sure, it was safe, but so much shit had gone down there that I was ready to leave. The whole barn fiasco, Sophia's death, getting shot. None of those were particularly fond memories on my behalf.

She had been so hurt. Her face had been so pale, contorted into expressions so raw and real that he had never before seen grace her delicate face. She had so willingly sacrificed herself. How?

That day had been permanently burned in the back of my mind. That ride, which was only about 30 miles, had seemed so long, and so lonely. It had left me with just my thoughts for too long.

As we turned left onto another country road, my mind was once again pulled back into a memory. Albeit, this one was a little older.

"Whiskey." I grumbled as I sat on the barstool, my eyes heavy. The bartender whipped out a bottle and poured me some quickly, sliding it my way. I took the glass with a half-hearted sigh and sipped. The whiskey burned when it passed with cracked, sunburned lips. "Ugh."

"Rough day?"a voice called out behind me. I turned to see a woman, early twenties. Her hair was bleached blonde, badly bleached blonde, and her face was caked with enough makeup to make her skin look like wax. She gave me a sultry little smile and gingerly sat on the stool next to me, crossing her legs to flaunt them.

"Guess you could say that." I chuckled, turning back to my drink. This chick was your typical redneck wanna-be beauty queen. Girls like this hung around in this dive bar every night. Usually, I just ignored them.

"Anything you wanna tell me sugar?" She asked, pursing her lips a little, lifting up whatever little sugary drink she had and taking a tiny sip.

"I don't feel like sharin." Was all I said, taking another sip.

"Oh. You're one of those men." She giggled, or at least I thought it was supposed to be a giggle. To me, it was like nails on a chalkboard.

"What?"

"One of those who are afraid of telling their story." She slurred. "To avoid sharing the real pain."

I rolled my eyes. "Hah. My pain is about as real as those breasts of yours."

I gasped, covering her mouth. "How dare you!" She shouted, standing up, slamming her cup down. "Go rot in hell!" She screamed before she stormed away, slamming the door behind her. I could feel everyone staring at me, but I just chugged the rest of whiskey.

"Another!"

I cringed at that memory. Man, I used to be a dick. I was a redneck, a drunk. That was an everyday occurrence for me, or at least it used to be. Sometimes the girls cried, sometimes they screamed, others just got drink and wound up in bed with me, but it never meant anything.

If I said shit like that to Nicole…..well…..let's just say… I would never be able to have children after that.

I almost hit the back of the truck as it came to a complete stop in front of me, snapping me out of my memories.

"Shit!" I hissed, stopping the bike. I heard someone close a car door, and a few seconds later Rick ran up to the truck. T rolled down the window.

"What is it?" T asked, leaning out so I could now see him. "Pile up?"

"No." Rick shook his head, sticking his arm out, leaning against the truck. "You guys need to get out. We found something."

"Found something?" I asked, stepping off the bike. In a few short strides, I was right by them.

"Yeah. You'll want to see this." Rick nodded, giving me a small smile, paired with some crazy eyes.

I shared a look with T, but we could tell that Rick was going to stand here until we got out. Begrudgingly, T opened the door, knocking me out of the way. Slowly, the others filed out of the truck, and we all followed Rick.

"What is it?"I asked, looking at T. He just shrugged and kept walking.

We came up to the edge of the road, where the others were standing.

"I think I have an idea." Rick smiled, gesturing with his hands.

My breath hitched. I could see where this plan was going. I can't believe we hadn't had this idea before.

A prison.

 ** _Are you ready?_**


	24. Chapter 24

**Can you believe it's already March?! That's crazy! Life has been so crazy lately. I have to stage manage a musical and it is some stressful stuff. Anyway, enough about my lonely life.**

 **Thank you to my lovely reviewers. It is your feedback that keeps my mind going and keeps the wheels turning. If you have any questions, comments, concerns, or ideas, let me know in the reviews or PM me. I hope you like this chapter, because I do.**

 **Also, Wendy imouto chan... WHERE DID YOU GO? I MISS YOU SO MUCH AND YOUR AWESOME FEEDBACK!**

 **Nicole POV**

 **Lyrics are in the chapter!**

We drove up to the edge of the high fence that completely surrounded the prison. From the vantage point we had been at earlier, we knew that the prison spanned at least a mile, if not more. It covered a few acres of grassy land, intermittently dispersed with tall, cinder block buildings and cement yards. Guard towers were stationed strategically around the fence, looming over everything.

I grabbed my bag and slipped it onto my left shoulder, the one that didn't have my bow and my gun. I pulled the handle to my door and shoved it open, slowly

pulling myself out of the cramped SUV.

Everyone else got out to, shouldering their bags and pillows and various weapons. We stood there, looking in at the prison, analyzing our surroundings.

"There's a gated road just in there. It'll take us to that gate over there." Rick said loudly, pointing to a gate that was a few hundred feet down the road.

"How are we gonna get in?" Hershel asked. "The main gate is locked from the inside, and there's no way anyone is getting over this thing." He added, shooting a glance up. I followed his gaze, seeing the barbed wire that lined the top of the fence, about 2 feet high. Yeah, that was not happening.

Rick scratched his chin thoughtfully, looking the fence up and down. "We could….maybe we could…."

"Bolt cutters." Glenn said suddenly. I turned to look at him, his face slowly growing into a grin.

"What?" Rick asked.

"I have bolt cutters in my bag." Glenn explained. "We could cut open the fence enough for everyone to slip through, and then we could tie the fence up back with wire so the walkers can't get through." I nodded at his explanation. It was a pretty good plan, all things considered. Rick seemed to think so too, because he nodded as well, resting his hands on his hips.

"Alright, let's do it." He said. "I'll go through first, then Daryl, then Nicole. We'll take out as many as we can on the road. Then the rest of you follow in. Glenn and T, I want you to to watch their backs as they go through, and then go last. Then you can lace it up after you get through."

Everybody grunted in response to him, bouncing on the balls of their feet. Rick shot me a glance and I nodded reassuringly, pulling my knife out of my belt loop. I would have preferred to use my bow or one of my guns, but we were running dangerously low on ammo and a bow wouldn't work well in such close quarters, so a knife it was.

Glenn pulled the wire cutters out of his bag, handing them over to Rick. The older man took them with a grin, giving him a nod. He turned to me and motioned for me to follow him. I slid my bag off of my shoulder, catching the handle in my hand, letting it hang next to me. Daryl came up beside me, his roll in his large hand. He gave a small side grin, one that was there in a moment and gone in a flash. I returned in subtly, acknowledging his small movement.

Rick sucked in a breath before turning and cutting through some of the fence. Daryl grabbed on to the edge of the cut area and began to pull it back, creating a small doorway for out group. Rick slipped through first, his knife in his right hand. Daryl went through next, and I followed, having the easiest time of all of us. I was much smaller than they were, so the fence barely caught any of my clothing. I felt a hand clasp onto my wrist and pull me up from my awkward squatting position. I mumbled a quick "Thanks," before I tossed my bag to the side.

As soon as we had cut the fence, the walkers had started to converge in on us. I drew my knife, just as Daryl and Rick did, and lunged at the coming monsters. I flew at the nearest walker, digging my knife into its eye, twisting it around for good measure. The brains made a horrible squelching noise before I finally pulled my knife out, watching it crumble to the ground. I turned to my left and slashed the next one's throat, sighing loudly as hot blood gushed over my hand. I just cleaned out under my nails. Now, because of this little fucker, I had to clean them out all over again.

I could see the others coming through the fence behind us out of the corner of my eye as I turned to take down another walker. I kicked my leg out, nailing him in the knees, knocking him backwards as he grabbed at my arms. I grunted and kicked his writhing body before stabbing him in the head, effectively silencing his moans. I wrapped my hand around the bloodied hilt and yanked it out, standing up from my crouched position. I looked around, ready to take down another enemy, but stopped when I realized that the only things around me were people, living people. I shot a glance towards the fence, smiling when I saw that it had been tightly laced with copper wire. Walkers were throwing themselves at fence, but we were all safely inside, out of reach of their rotting hands.

"You good?" Carol said to me. She stuck her hand out, my bag dangling from her fingertips.

"I need to wash my hands, but yeah. I'm good." I answered, taking my bag with my semi clean hand, offering her a grateful smile. I slung it over my shoulder and we followed Rick, who was already heading down the road, towards the gate to the yard.

From here, we had a clear view of the yard. It was a long, grassy clearing, fenced in on all sides. Dozens of walkers milled about the yard, groaning and stumbling about. Most were dressed as prisoners and guards, their uniforms still recognizable despite the blood and guts.

"If we surround the yard," Rick said, looking around. "Then we should be able to take them out and secure the area."

I looked around the area. There were guard towers, high enough for us to be able to get some good shots. Maybe we could draw them to fence and kill them through it. Then, my heart sunk down in my chest as I noticed the flaw in our plan.

"Uh, Rick?" I said, getting his attention. Everyone turned to look at me, staring back. "One small problem."

"What?"

I stuck my arm out, pointing to the wide open fence across the yard, the one that was letting walkers cross back and forth between the yard. "If we want to clear the field and secure it, then we need to get that gate closed. If we don't they'll just keep coming through." Rick's face fell at my observation, the words sinking in. We all knew what this meant. Someone had to go and close it. I opened my mouth to volunteer, but someone beat me to it.

"I'll do it." Glenn said quickly, before anyone else could volunteer.

"No." Rick's response was almost instantaneous. I sighed internally, because I already knew how this was going to end. It was going to go the same way it always does. There will be a problem, someone will volunteer to fix it, and then Rick will insist on doing it himself.

"I'm the fastest." Glenn reasoned, trying to convince him,

"No Glenn." Maggie said softly, grabbing his arm. Those two were very protective of each other, and I knew, and everyone else knew too, that there was little to no chance of Maggie letting Glenn do something like that.

"No Glenn. You and Maggie can take the fence over there." He pointed to the left of us. I rolled my eyes. Yup, he was following the same pattern. Glenn knew this too, because he didn't bother to argue. He just simply nodded, stepping back to stand beside Maggie. "Start banging on it, making as much noise as possible. Try and draw the walkers towards you, then kill them through the fence." He turned to face the rest of us. "I want Daryl, Nicole, Hershel, and Carol to go up in the guard tower, hit them from above. You guys are the best shots we have, but we're running low on ammo, so be smart about it. Everyone else can take a spot on the fence. I'll have Lori stay here to open and close this gate. I'll run in and close the gate, then I'll get up in that guard tower and we can take out the survivors. Sound good?" Everyone nodded in acknowledgement, even though we all knew that no one was going to disagree with him. Hardly anyone ever did. He had gotten us this far. Why should we disagree now? "Then let's go."

The group split, with the biggest group spreading out along the fence, their weapons at the ready. T had a sharp iron stake in his hands, while most of them had long knives or machetes. Maggie, Carl, and Glenn had guns at their waists. I knew that they were prepared.

I went after my group of Hershel, Carol, and Daryl, who were at the base of the nearest tower. Hershel and Carol were loading their shotguns, carefully locking them. Daryl had his bow in his grip, one already loaded, ready to be fired. I did the same, pulling my bow off of my shoulder and loading. My AK was already loaded and hanging across my back.

"Alright." Daryl said, taking control of the group. "Carol, you'll pull the door open. I don't think we should meet anyone in there, but I'll go first. Then Hershel and Cole, and you can bring up the back. Then we'll wait for Rick's signal and take them out."

"Careful with the ammo." Hershel added, his tone wary. "We're almost out. Take your time and aim."

"But don't let him die." Carol added with a wry smile, her tone dry and sarcastic. I chuckled a little, while the other two rolled their eyes. "It's true though."

"Let's go then." Daryl said, readying his bow. Carol nodded and grabbed the door handle in her free hand.

"One….two…...three!" She ripped it open, and Daryl lurched forward, prepared to meet an undead foe. I was pleasantly surprised when the doorway was empty. Daryl grunted and shuffled in, not lowering his bow. I followed close behind, keeping my guard up. I wasn't in the mood for any surprises today. I could feel Hershel behind me, his breathing slow and steady. Carol came through last, closing the door as Daryl and I ascended the staircase towards the top of the tower.

"It's clear." Daryl announced, finally lowering his weapon, dropping his defensive stance. I lowered mine too and we both stepped out onto the small balcony that surrounded the tower. From here, I had a clear view of the whole yard, from the cell block to the fence where we had started. The others were already in their positions, stationed spread out along the fence. I could see Rick and Lori by the gate, her pale hands gripping the handle. I brought my bow around, holding it steadily in my hands, ready to go. Carol precariously rested her rifle against the top of the railing, preparing herself. As soon as Hershel set himself up, Daryl brought his fingers to his lips and whistled as loud as he could, the signal for Rick to go.

With a from her husband, Lori pulled the gate open enough for him to get through. Rick squeezed through the space, his gun at the ready, and the gate closed with a bang behind him. The others were screeching and screaming, hitting the fence with their hands, begging the walkers to come in their direction. I focused my attention on the center of the yard where Rick was running. With impeccable precision, I took down a walker that was just a few feet from my friend. As more converged in on him, the others began to shoot as well, their guns going off loudly beside me. I took down beast after beast with my arrows, before I noticed that I was on my last one. I groaned and dropped the bow, switching it out my AK. I stopped to adjust my aim just as a bullet screeched past me, narrowly missing Rick's head. He turned to me with a look of confusion.

"Sorry." Carol grimaced, adjusting her aim. I laughed a little internally at her wry response, taking down another walker with a direct shot to the eye. Rick had made it to the gate, but there was a large mass right on the other side of it, coming straight for him. I sucked in a deep breath and released a hail of bullets on them, giving Rick enough time to pull the gate closed. He gave a swift kick to the walker that was closest to him, sending him flying backwards into the mass. He closed the gate and clipped it in place with our metal carabiners. He turned and shot the walker that stood between him and the nearest guard tower and sprinted towards the sanctuary , just out of reach of the moaning walkers. He ripped the door open, slipped inside, and slammed it shut with an alarming thud. We waited a few moments, holding our breath, before he emerged at the top.

I let out a relieved sigh, happy that the hardest part was over. I shot Rick a smile, which he returned, before turning my gaze to the group along the fence. An impressive pile of bodies had piled up along the other side of their friends, their heads and eyes impaled and destroyed. I gave Carl a small thumbs up, to which he responded with a small salute. I chuckled and turned my attention back to Rick, who had just finished loading his shotgun. He looked up at us and nodded, ready to give the order.

"Light em up."

And boy, we did.

Bullets and arrows flew, taking out the few dozen monsters that were left after our first wave. I hated to admit it, but I was having way too much fun doing this. It was almost like a video game. The goal: take out as many as you can.

Except, this wasn't a video game. This was real life,

I pushed those thoughts to the back of my mind as I took out the last of the walkers, watching the fall backwards limply, the bullets piercing through their brains.

When the last one fell, a silence fell all around us. But this time, the silence wasn't heavy and upsetting like it usually was. It was light and fulfilling, a silence of contentment. We had done it. We had actually done it.

 **OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO**

"We haven't had this much space since we left the farm!" Carol cried gleefully, running into the open field with her arms wide. Beth followed her, her pigtails bobbing joyously, her arms full of bags and blankets, a giant smile on her face. The rest of us followed them into the spacious yard, our bags in our hands.

I looked around with a smile. We would have to remove all of the rotting corpses, but those did not bother me right now. This was the first time in months that I felt safe. There was a fence surrounding us, wrapping us all in a protective bubble, blocking out all of the walkers.

We settled down in the center of the yard, in the biggest area without any walkers in it. The sun was about to set, casting an orange haze over our group. A sharp wind blew through the air, chilling me a little. It wasn't winter anymore, but it definitely wasn't summer either.

"How about we start a fire?" T suggested, looking around at the group. I knew that no one would admit it, but I could tell that at least Beth, Maggie, and Lori were all cold. I nodded, setting my bag down.

We split up, traveling the edges of the fence, picking up branches that had been torn off of the trees that surrounded the prison, tossed in by the wind. After a few minutes, I had collected a substantial amount, enough to keep a fire going for a few hours.

When I got back to the group, the sun was almost completely gone and everyone else had already set out their sleeping bags and blankets. I smiled when I saw that someone had dug a small trench for me to build a fire in. I knew it had to have been Daryl, because he was the only other one that knew to do that.

I looked around for him to thank him, but I noticed that he wasn't with the group. He and Rick were patrolling the perimeter of the fence, checking for any breeches or weaknesses. I didn't think there were any, as we would have caught them by now, but I didn't stop them. Instead I got on my knees and built up a decent sized fire.

I stepped back, admiring my handiwork, soaking in the warmth.

"Nice flames." A voice said next to me. I jumped a little, not expecting for their to be anyone there. Daryl rolled his eyes. "Didn't mean to scare ya." He chuckled. He stuck his hand out to me, and I noticed there was a can of beans in it with a spoon stuck in it. "How about a peace offering?"

I rolled my eyes, but took the can nonetheless, shoveling a spoonful into my mouth. I groaned with happiness when I tasted it, savoring it before finally swallowing. "Damn. I laughed. "Those are good." I took another two spoonfuls before setting the spoon back in there. Some people may find sharing silverware gross, and some may say that it's unsanitary, but considering all of our bodies were covered in dried blood and guts, I didn't think it mattered. Daryl didn't seem to care either, because he just took the spoon and scooped some into his mouth,

"Yeah. Found 'em wedged in the bottom of my roll. Who knew." He said between bites, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. I took a few more bites before I let him have the rest. After a few awkward moments of silence when the fan was emptied, Daryl turned to me, smirking. "It is a nice fire though."

"You know I have a thing for pyrotechnics." I said wryly. Both of us visibly cringed at the memory of that awful say, and I shook my head, clearing my kind of those memories. "Figured they could use it." I shrugged, gesturing to the people that were warming themselves next to the flames.

"Figured you could use it too." He added, looking me up and down. It was then that I realized that I was shivering. I blushed awkwardly, rubbing my arms vigorously, trying to calm my body down.

"I'm fine." I offered, continuing the rubbing.

"O-kay." He grunted, drawing it out. Silently, he bent over and picked something off of the ground. It was a fleece blanket, one that he had picked up a few months ago at a house. I had mentioned that it reminded me of my favorite childhood blanket, and the next day when we left I had found it sitting in the back of the SUV, neatly folded. I had never figured out who had done it, but I had my suspicions.

I grinned sheepishly and took the blanket, wrapping it around my small frame, immediately appreciating the warmth.

"Thanks." I mumbled, pulling the fabric tighter.

"Don't mention it." He nodded, zipping his jacket. I watched as the wind rippled his growing hair, making it shiver and move. His scruff had started to grow out, but it was nice and clean in a very masculine way. The light from the fire bounced off of his eyes, making them glow like embers in a fire. He looked…..really good right.

I was so absorbed in my thoughts that I hadn't even noticed that the others were talking to me.

"Huh?" I answered, not my most articulant response ever.

"You wanna sing something Nikki?" Hershel asked nicely, his kind eyes glowing warmly in the firelight. The others were staring at me expectantly, sitting around like a group of kids waiting for me to tell them a story.

"Oh...uh…." I stuttered, unsure of what to do.

"I just figured," Glenn stepped in. "It's a campfire. Campfires have songs." He grinned sheepishly. "I mean, you don't have to. It's not like we're gonna…"

"No, no. It's mine." I said gently, pulling the fleece fabric even tighter, as if it would protect me. "Just let me think of a song." What could I sing? What song would be appropriate for a time like now?

And then it hit me.

 _Of all the money that e'er I had_

 _I spent it in good company_

 _And all the harm I've ever done_

 _Alas it was to none but me_

 _And all I've done for want of wit_

 _To memory now I can't recall_

 _So fill to me the parting glass_

 _Good night and joy be with you all_

 **Did you like this chapter? Let me know by leaving me a review. I really, really, really love reviews. The longer, the better.**


	25. Chapter 25

**Guess who's back? Back again? Yeah that's right, it's Wendy imouto chan, my freaking favorite reader of all time. Thanks to all who reviewed on the last few chapters. This has some Ricole friendship for all of you, and some Dacole awkwardness for you as well. I wrote this on my phone on a 4 hour bus ride, so forgive the typos.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Nicole POV**

 ** _"_** _I won't just survive. Oh you will see me thrive. Can't write my story. I'm beyond the archetype."- Rise, Katy Perry_

Night had taken over our camp, shrouding us all in a veil of darkness, the only light emanating from the fire I had built in the center of the clearing. After my song, I had gone off with a few of the others to remove the bodies. We had piled them all in a corner of the yard, electing to leave them there for the night. Tomorrow we were going to dig a mass grave to put them in, but it was too dark for that right now.

I was sitting on a log that we had pulled over, completely stuck between daryl, who was on my left, and RIck, who had sat down on my right. I had my fleece blanket pulled tightly around me, trying to block out the wind. Maggie and Glenn sat directly across the fire from me, hand in hand. Beth and Hershel were next to them, and T and carol were on the other side. Lori and Carl were on the other side of Rick, sitting on a log, sharing a blanket. About 20 minutes ago, Rick and Lori had gone off to talk somewhere, and both of them had come back with an expression you could only describe as exasperated. I had debated whether or not to talk to Rick, but I had decided against it. Right now, I knew he was trying to push all of those personal troubles to the back of his mind.

"Guys?" Rick piped up, breaking the peaceful quiet. Everyone brought their attention to the former deputy. He leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, hands folded in front of him. "Look, I know we're all exhausted." I rolled my eyes. That was an understatement. "This was a great win. But we gotta push just a little bit more. Most of the Walkers are dressed as guards or prisoners, looks like this place fell pretty early. Could mean the supplies may be intact. They have an infirmary, a commissary."

His words soaked in after a few seconds, and then it finally clicked. An armory? Commissary? This could be what we've been waiting for. An infirmary, that means that we could have a somewhat safe place for Lori to have the baby, which was more than any of us could have asked for.

"An armory?" Daryl piped up, stealing the thoughts out of my head.

Rick nodded, looking around at the group. "That would be outside the prison itself, but not too far away. Warden's offices would have info on the location. Weapons, food, medicine, this place could be a gold mine!" His eyes were ignited with fire and hope, his voice spilling with confidence. We all knew he was telling the truth. This was our best option.

"We're dangerously low on ammo. We'll run out before we make a dent." Hershel said. The older veterinarian was always the voice of reason in our group, drawing us back to earth after we had floated too far away from reality. My heart sunk a little at his words. He did have a point

"That's why we have to go in there... hand to hand." Rick said slowly, looking around to all of us. "After all we've been through, we can handle it, I know it."

The whole fire was silent, except for the quiet crackling of the flames. I looked down at my feet, clicking my heels together quietly. Hand to hand? I knew we were strong, but even the strongest can only go hand to hand for so long. We have no idea what it behind that fence, just how many walkers there are waiting for us. For all we know, there could be over 100 waiting for us in that cell block. Not even 10 of us against all of them? Those odds were slim to none.

But then, when I thought about it more, those odds seemed to matter less and less. The odds don't matter. Hell, if the odds mattered, we'd all be dead. Screw it. Let's go.

"I'm in." I said, my voice hoarse and low, shattering the silence. Everyone turned to stare at me, analyzing my response. I could feel their gazes drilling into my skull. I looked up and saw Daryl's amber gaze watching me intently, his face expressionless. "I'm in." I repeated. "We can do it- hand to hand. It's not like we have many options." I shrugged, pulling the blanket tighter.

"Alright." Rick nodded, patting my knee. "Anyone else?"

"Okay." Daryl nodded beside me. I smiled a little and he smirked at me. A small murmur of agreement rippled through the circle. Soon, everyone was nodding, and I knew that they were all on board.

Rick smiled. "Great. We'll formulate a plan in the morning. Everybody make sure you get some sleep. We need to be on top of our game. Rest easy." He nodded and stood up. He offered his hand to Lori and she took it gratefully, using his body to hoist herself up and off of the log, her stomach jutting out beneath her shirt. She smiled at her husband and he smiled back. Well, at least they were friendly.

Slowly, everyone got up and got ready to sleep. We laid out our sleeping bags in the clearing, everyone fairly close to one another, purely for habit's sake. Rick and Lori were set up in the middle, with Carl on one side of Rick. Carol was at their feet with T next to her. Beth and Hershel were beside Lori, and Glenn and Maggie had laid out their sleeping bags to make a double sized one to share at the very end. I was on the other side of Carl.

While everyone else was getting ready, I walked up to Rick, who was loading his gun.

"I can take first watch." I offered, gesturing to the knives at my waist, which I had not bothered to take off. Someone took watch every night, usually trading off with someone halfway through the night. It shifted around between all of us, except for Lori, Carl, and Beth. I had done it two days ago, but I was okay with doing it tonight. I knew that the others were probably pretty tired.

Rick laughed, the sound a mix of humor and nervousness, although I was confused about why.

"What's so funny?"

"It's just that…" He sighed, "Daryl just volunteered to take it." I sighed, of course he had. Did that man ever sleep? But, I didn't see why that mattered.

"But, why is that funny?" I asked, still confused.

"Nothin'." He chuckled, shaking his head a little. "Just, the two of you, keeping watch together...alone. I don't have to give you a chaperone, right?" He said the last part suggestively, wiggling his eyebrows a little.

I almost choked on the air I was breathing. I fought to control the blush that had crept onto my face, praying to anyone that I was succeeding. "Wh..what?" I sputtered, not sure if I had heard him correctly. "Why do you say that?"

"No reason." He shrugged, his eyebrows raised. "I'm just watching out for my little sis, that's all." He elbowed me a little.

I laughed. He hadn't called me that in forever. He usually only called me that when he was making fun of me. "Watching out for me, eh?" I found it funny that he was thinking like that. It's not like Daryl and I had been doing anything. That kiss was one time, and even so, we had been alone. Nobody had seen it….oh shit. My stomach turned to ice as my tone got serious. "Rick….?" I turned to look at him. "What are you talking about?" My heart picked up a little. Had he seen us? Had he seen our kiss? Had he talked to Daryl?

He simply shrugged, tilting his head a little. "I know what I know. Nothing more, nothing less. I saw what I saw, I heard what I heard. I'm just looking out for you." And with that, he left. Before he got too far though, he turned. "Oh, and T is taking watch anyway." He tossed over his shoulder before he joined his wife.

I just stood there, staring for a few moments in his direction, my jaw clenched. I needed to talk to him again. I needed to talk to Daryl. I was all fired up, ready to go talk about this conversation….whatever it was, but as I turned I saw that everyone was laying down and relaxing, smiles on their faces from today's success. I wasn't going to ruin that, I thought to myself. This could wait.

I shuffled back over to the blanket covered ground, careful not to trip over anything. I saw T load his gun and strap on his knife in front of me.

"Make me up if you need anything, okay?" I said softly, patting him on the shoulder.

"Yes ma'am," He nodded, giving me a soft smile. I rolled my eyes and kept walking, carefully placing my feet around people's stuff. I was on the outsider the group, but that was how I wanted it. I liked to have a little bit of distance. A little out of claustrophobia, a little out of awkwardness. I could sleep anywhere when necessary, but when not necessary, I couldn't sleep surrounded by people.

Carl was already wrapped up in his sleeping bag. The only part of himself that was visible was a small tuft of brown hair that was sticking out of the top. I smiled and grabbed my sleeping bag, untying the make-shift rope I had made of torn curtains. My sleeping bag unrolled quickly, and I laid it on the ground. I leaned backwards until my back popped loudly. I sighed with happiness, feeling like I was two inches taller. I grabbed the holster that has wrapped around my thigh and pulled it off, throwing it unceremoniously on the ground. I placed all of my weapons neatly at the foot of my sleeping bag, still loaded and ready to be used.

I sat down on top of the fabric, sticking my legs out. Slowly, I pulled my shoes off of my feet, rolling my ankles around to loosen them up. My socks were tattered and dirty, but I couldn't bring myself to care. I hated to admit it, but I was exhausted as hell, and I was really looking forward to a good night's sleep.

I pulled the top of my sleeping bag up and I slid inside, cuddling into the fabric a little. I turned, so I was lying on my side, facing towards Carl. It was very quiet now,with everyone having settled down for the night. My eyes fluttered closed quickly, and before I knew it, I was asleep, tightly curled in my sleeping bag.

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I woke up slowly the next morning. I opened my eyes, wrenching them apart slowly. I was met by a light yellow haze of the rising sun that was reaching my eyes, the only part of my body outside of the sleeping bag. I could hear a few birds chirping, calling out to one another. The heavy wind from last night had lulled into a soft breeze, rustling the trees. It was a beautiful morning, but I wasn't focused on that. I was focused on the heavy weight that was on top of me, holding my body down.

"What the fuck?" I whispered, lifting my head up weakly, trying to see what was on top of me. As soon as the words left my lips, the weight on top of me shifted.

Wait..what?

I froze, my entire body tensing up as the weight continued to shift back and forth slowly. I held my head up, my blue eyes wide and uncomfortable. If the weight on top of me is moving, then that means that it wasn't something. It was someone.

"Uh, hello?" I said, a little louder, hoping to get their attention. Upon hearing my low voice, the person's head shot up, looking around wildly, before their eyes finally landed on mine. I smirked and rolled my eyes. Of course, "Hey there Daryl. Watcha doin?" I said sarcastically, drawing out my words.

"What the…?" He hissed, staring at me in a very confused manner. "Why are you…?"

"Why am I underneath you?" I raised an eyebrow. "Well, I believe you rolled on top of me in your sleep. My other idea is that you just fell asleep on top of me because you wanted to. That one would be preferred." I winked suggestively at him. "But, I'm going with the first one."

His confused eyes changed from confused to mortified as he realized that he was laying on top of me, wrapped in his sleeping bag, his head on my chest, his legs on top of mine. Immediately, his entire body lurched and he rolled quite unceremoniously off of me, into the ground beside me. There was a slightly smashed pillow next to mine, so that must have been where he had been before this mess had happened. He flailed around in the blanket before finally pulling himself out of it, standing up quickly. "I am so fucking sorry about that."

"It's okay." I laughed as a giant blush crept up his cheeks. I unzipped my sleeping bag and pulled my legs out, quickly slipping on and lacing up my boots. After my shoes were on, I stuck a hand out to him. He leaned over to grab it, to help pull me up, and I smirked at him when his hand grabbed mine. "I tend to have that effect on men."

"In your dreams Walsh." He groaned, pulling me off of the ground.

"Ooh, that was cold." I mocked hurt, landing on my feet. "I am truly hurt Dixon. Truly hurt."

"I'm sure you'll be fine." He smirked.

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"We're going hand to hand, so we need to bring the strongest fighters in there." Rick explained, having just finished up his beans. I was still in the middle of mine, as was most everyone else. Luckily, Daryl and I had woken up and sorted out our whole ordeal before everyone else had woken up, which saved us some major awkwardness. Carol had woken up soon after and had heated up some beans for breakfast for the rest of the group. Slowly, everyone had come around, excited and weary about what we knew was coming later this morning. "That means me, T, Glenn, Maggie, Daryl, and Nicole. We'll go in together, attack formation. That means we go in back to back, facing away from each other, but in a circle, so nobody's back is blind. We're going to make our way to the nearest cell block." The five of us nodded in agreement. "The others are going to crowd the fence, try and draw them over, like they did earlier. We'll bring you guys in whenever we have it secure. Sound good?"

"Sounds like a good time." T chuckled, putting his fork down. I rolled my eyes and put my down as well, nodding at Rick.

"Then let's get going."

We all spread out immediately, grabbing our various weapons. I tossed my bow over my shoulder, even though it wouldn't be of much use in this situation. I awkward feel better when I have it. I took both of my knifes and tucked them into my belt, ready for use. I tucked a gun in the holster strapped to my thigh, just in case. I pulled my long hair back into a high ponytail to keep it from whipping me in the face and obstructing my view, which had happened on more than one occasion.

I pulled on my cut out gloves, popping my fingers loudly. They helped me get a better grip on the knives. I joined the others by the fence, where they were all decked out in weapons. We looked like the most badass group of action heroes ever, which at this moment, I felt like we were.

"Awesome." Rick smiled. "We have Nikki. Everybody ready?" We all nodded back quickly, our minds beginning to focus in on the task at hand. "Alright. Let's start."

We walked over to the gate that Rick had previously closed, walker's milling about on the other side. The others spread out along the fence and began to scream and hit at it, begging the walkers to come their way. With a small nod from Hershel, the older man pulled the fence open and we went through, already in our defensive position. Rick was in front, with Daryl on his right. I had in the other side of Daryl, so close that our elbows were touching. Glenn was beside me, equally as close to Maggie, who held the position in the other side of him. T was between Maggie and Rick, filling out the strange circle shape. We all had our weapons raised, knives, machetes, iron spokes. Any close range weapon that could kill a walker. Rick killed the first one with ease, slicing with his machete, decapitating it quickly. I lunged at the one in front of me, forcing my knife through its rotting skull.

We slowly pushed deeper into the yard, slashing and stabbing our way through the mess. More and more converged in upon us, surrounding us. Our formation was working well, keeping everybody visible and covered.

All of the sudden, T broke formation, sprinting towards a pile of rubble.

"T!" Rick screamed, slashing another body away. Our entire group stopped moving, not wanting to go forward a man down.

"We're gonna need this!" The man screamed back, picking up a prison riot shield that had been on the ground. He was right. That would come in handy, but he was far outside of rank. I forced the shield against the nearest walker, sending it flying backwards. He sprinted towards our group, almost sliding into formation beside Rick.

We kept moving as soon as he rejoined us. They kept coming at us, and I could hear the others screaming behind us, trying to pull them away, but at this point, it was futile. There were so many of them. Where were they coming from?

My eyes drifted towards where most of the walker's were coming from. Shit. The gate to the other half of the cell block was wide open, with walker's spilling through. That was where they were coming from. The only way for us to get through was if we closed that gate, or else they would keep coming.

Without a second thought, I broke rank and started to sprint towards the gate.

"Cole!" Daryl screamed behind me, attempting to grab my arm. "What are you doing?"

"Nikki, fall back!" Rick hollered.

I just ignored them and kept running towards the gate, determined to close it. I knew exactly when they figured out what I was doing, because they stopped screaming at me. They saw my plan. A walker grabbed at my body and I shoved him back with my arm, slipping out of his grasp.

I threw myself at the crowded fence a slammed it closed with all of my might, forcing them all backwards with the force of the metal. I breathed heavily in relief for a moment, proud of myself for getting it closed.

But my relief was shattered in an instant.

"Nicole!" Daryl screeched, his lowly voice thick with fear. "Behind you!"

I whipped around wildly, my knife raised defensively. I wrapped wildly, but I stepped back when my knife bounced harmlessly off of the walker, clattering to the ground. I stared up in horror at the walker that towered in front of me. He was 6'4 and used to be well muscled, and he was covered head to toe in riot gear. I had seen gear like this, before the outbreak. It was durable and protected, able to withstand a stabbing, and bulletproof. His face had a thick mask covering it, blocking the path to its brain. Well that was going to be a problem.

"Shit." I hissed, dodging its flailing arm. I spastically grabbed for the second knife at my belt. How was I going to kill this thing? I got in defensive stance, circling the monster aggressively. There were no weakness in the armor, from what I could see. I could hear a loud groaning coming from behind me, and I turned. My stomach turned into ice as I saw the massive hoard that was coming straight towards me. The ones in front were just like the one behind me, completely covered in armor. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the others back in their defensive stance, attacking the walker's that were surrounding them. They were just as fucked as I was. They weren't going to be much help. I scrambled to pick up my discarded knife. How was I going to get out of this one? I was caught between a walker and multiple walkers, with a fence on the other side.

I could hear the one behind me and turned just in time to knock him back with my first. He flew to the ground with a thud. From this angle, I finally saw one weakness: the neck. I had to get at the beck. The rotting flesh on its neck was the only part exposed. If I could just get to it, I could slash it's neck, cutting the brain stem. I just had to get close.

I lunged at the downed walker, diving towards its neck. I raised my knife as in landed on its writhing form. He grabbed at me with decaying hands, but I ignored them, shoving the knife into his neck, earning a satisfying geyser of blood. His decayed form went rigid and his hands fell away. I breathed heavily, still straddling his chest. I ripped my knife out and stood up, still eyeing the walker, as if I was expecting him to pop up and grab me. I had to rip my attention away from him, though, when the moans behind me got louder. The hoard was almost on top of me now. I almost tripped over the body as I stumbled backwards, readying my knives.

I attacked the closest one, who was dressed as a prisoner. I easily killed him, as he had no armor. It wasn't until now that I realized that I had moved away from the rest of the group, to the other side of the building. I couldn't even see them now. This wasn't good.

"Fuckin' assholes." I spat as I killed a civilian walker, spilling her guts all over the ground. Suddenly, I felt a cold hand wrap around my arm. I hissed and twisted in its grip. I ripped my arm out and turned to see the other two guards, their eyes staring at me blankly from behind their masks. He grabbed for me again, brushing against my face this time. I hissed in disgust and jabbed my knife futilely at him. It just bounced against the armor, as it had before. I pulled my arm away and kicked him in the stomach, forcing him backwards. I had to get him on the ground.

I instinctively pulled out my preloaded gun and shot him in the knee, sending him falling to the ground. I ran and kicked him over, stomping on his stomach when he finally fell. I stomped again for good measure and dropped down to my knees, so I was practically straddling his chest. I aimed my gun carefully just as the beast looked back and pulled the trigger, watching the bullet cut through his neck, spewing blood once again. I sighed and went to put my gun away when I felt a pull on my foot. I struggled against the force, but only managed to flip myself off of the walker and onto my back on the concrete. I kicked against him, but this third walker was stronger than the others, and still covered in armor. The one good thing was that he was wearing gloves, so he couldn't scratch me. He released my legs, but before I could relax, he grabbed at my arms and stomach, effectively pinning me down. I was vaguely aware of the sounds of yelling and screaming around me. I grunted in pain as I Felt another heavy pressure land on me as a walker fell on my legs, pinning me down even more. I struggled guilty against the walker's grip, but my arms were stuck. If not for the mask in front of his face, he already would have ripped my throat out. Somehow, my biggest challenge had become my saving grace. I turned my head wildly, looking for anything, anything that could help me. I stopped when I saw one of my knives, lying right next to my face. My arms were stuck, so there was no way I could grab it. Unless….

I lurched my head forward and twisted my body at the same time, so my head was turned to the side. Carefully, I grabbed the hilt of my knife with my teeth. I let it fall a little deeper into my mouth and readjusted the grip I held with my teeth. This was the weirdest way I had ever fought a walker, but I was willing to try anything now.

I turned back to the walker, who was high enough above me to be out of the way of my knife. I leaned forward and used all of the force I could muster to jolt the monster, causing him to lose his balance. As he fell towards me, I craved my neck to get close to his neck. I closed my eyes as the sharp metal sunk into the rotting flesh. I felt hot liquid pouring on my face, and I knew that I had gotten its neck. The grip on my arms became loose and the body fell limply on top of me. I had done it. I had killed it.

I had been so focused on the walker that I hadn't even noticed that the yelling had stopped.

"Cole?" A voice screamed, calling out to me. I tried to respond, but ended up choking on the knife that was still in my mouth. I began to writhe underneath the much larger walker, my eyes still closed, was they were covered in blood and guts. "Cole? Oh shit." The voice was louder this time, as if it was right next to me. I felt a release of pressure and I could sense light through my eyelids as someone pulled the monster off of me, freeing me. Without opening my eyes, I sat up and turned, spitting the knife out of my mouth, hearing it hit the concrete. I wanted to open my eyes, but I knew I would just get blood in my eyes.

"Can someone please wipe my eyes off?" I asked quietly, feeling very awkward with my eyes closed. I felt a soft cloth wipe my eyes gently. After about 20 seconds, they pulled away, and I gently opened my eyes.

When I could finally see, I was met with the concerned faces of the rest of the group. Daryl was kneeling in front of me, the tail of his shirt in his hands.

"Are you okay?" He asked quietly, his emotions hard to discern.

I nodded weakly. "Yeah. Just got a little stuck."

Daryl rolled his eyes. "Why did you take off? We said not to break formation." His words were laced with anger and his voice was a growl, like he was mad at me.

"I had to close that gate. You know that one of us had to do it." I said sharply, placing a hand on the ground to push myself off of the ground. "I just happened to notice it first." I looked around at everyone else, my eyebrows raised. "Anyone else gonna fight me on that?" They all shook their heads, and Maggie gave me a small smile.

"Well, now that that's over," Rick stepped in. "Let's clear out this cell block. It looks pretty empty." He gestured to the large brick building behind us. Cell block C. He took off towards the door, with the others got on his tail. The only one still standing beside me was Daryl, who just looked at me with dark eyes.

"What?" I hissed, holstering my gun. "Gonna give me a talk about safety? Because I grew up with Rick and Shane. I have heard every single safety talk in the boo-" I was abruptly cut off when Daryl came at me and grabbed my waist, pressing a kiss to my lips. It was fiery, but not soft. No. This kiss was desperate, pleading.

He pulled away slowly, his eyes burning. "You don't got it do you?" He said lowly.

"What?" I tried to say, but it came out as more of a grunt.

"You may be willing to go for the gate." He said slowly. "But one of these days, you're going to go for the gate, and you're not going to come back. You may not care about that, but I sure as hell do, ya' stubborn woman." And he turned on his heels and walked away without another word.

 **Y'all that was almost 5k words. How do you like it?**


	26. Chapter 26

**IT HAS BEEN WAY TOO LONG. You have no idea how crazy my life has been, but thank you for being patient for me. I really hope you enjoy this sweet chapter and I will talk to you a little more soon.**

 **Much Love!**

Daryl POV

"Dancing slowly in an empty room. Can the lonely take the place of you?"- The Lonely, Cristina Perri

God, why are women so stubborn, and confusing, and hard to read? I mean, I've never been much of a people person, so I may not be the best person to ask in these situations. But I'm pretty sure people are not supposed to be that complicated.

So why in the hell did I have to be friends with the single most complicated woman alive?

I turned from Nicole, leaving her standing there stunned and flustered, unsure of what to do. To be fair, I was just as flustered as she was. Did I just….kiss her? I kissed her? That was twice now. Twice. That was very much not me, so why did she have that affect on me? Why did she make me smile every time she sang? Why did she make me laugh whenever she made fun of Rick and Lori? Why did she make me want to stay closer to the group? Why did she make me sick with worry every time she did something reckless? Why had I felt that my heart was being ripped out when I had seen her limp body pinned under that walker? Was this just a normal friendship or was this….?

Aw hell.

I'm in love with her.

I met up with the others by the door to the cellblock. They were all looking at me intently, their eyes wide with curiosity and concern.

"How's Nikki?" Rick asked, his voice laced with worry for the girl he had come to think of as his sister.

"She's fine." Stubborn as hell, but fine none the less. "Just getting the rest of the blood out of her eyes." Rick nodded, seemingly satisfied with my nonchalant answer, which I was thankful for. I was not in the mood to elaborate on what had just happened to Rick of all people.

"Yes she is." I heard a voice pipe up from beside me. It seems Nicole had just appeared there as I had been thinking about Rick. I rolled my eyes a little at her response, as did Rick. "What?" She quirked an eyebrow. I just rolled my eyes again. "What?"

"Nothing." Rick shrugged, smirking a little at her confusion. "Anyway," he addressed the rest of the group, who had been quietly catching their breath, watching the exchange in silence. "We need to get in there and clear out that cell block. It seems pretty empty, but we'll run our routine like normal. Clear all the rooms, take out any you find, call clear once you're good. Everyone understand?"

We all murmured our agreement, readying ourselves once again. Rick took his place in front of the door. T took hold of the handle, ready to open it. I spared a glance at Cole beside me. She was staring at the ground, her brow furrowed in concentration, her lip curled as she thought hard about something. I had always loved that about her, her little quirks like that.

"Game's never over, is it?" She mumbled quietly. I wasn't sure if she was speaking to me or expecting me to answer, but she didn't press, so I merely shrugged, loading my bow.

"Open it up T." Rick nodded towards the dark skinned man. T did just that, ripping the door open. We ran in, weapons raised, senses on high alert. Rick took out the one right in front of us, before sprinting up the steps to the gaurd's perch. He exited a second later with a thick set of keys on a rusted ring. We stepped back and let him open up the gate to the cell area. There were no walkers in there….well, no live ones. Well, can walkers be alive? Or are they just moving and then not moving?

Wait.. why does that matter?

We cleared the room quickly, not running into any unwanted tenants. The cell block was two stories, with 8 cells on each level and windows on the wall across from them. There was a metal staircase with a guard's perch on the other side of the room, with a small metal table in the middle of the open area. It smelled rusty and rotten, but it was empty and safe, which was more than I could say for anywhere else we had been saying.

"Well, well." Rick spoke, placing his hands on his hips. "Let's go get the others." He turned to me, flashing me a toothy smile.

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"I'll take the perch." I announced, tossing my stuff in the corner at the top of the stairs. "No way in hell I'm sleeping in a cage." Glenn chuckled slightly in response while placing his stuff on a bunk down below. Maggie followed him in, placing her stuff down on the top bunk.

"Suit yourself." Maggie drawled, patting Glenn on the shoulder. "But I'm taking a bed while there's one available."

"Oh, it'll be so nice to be able to use a bed." Glenn sighed, a goofy smile creeping on to his face. "We haven't used a bed since-"

"Woah Glenn! Little ears here!" Nicole called loudly, rushing and covering Carl's ears with her hands. "We don't need to hear about that!"

"What are you- oh." Glenn's eyes grew wide at the sound of his words, his face turning a bright shade of crimson. "Oh. That's, that's not wat I...I mean… I wasn't… I was not…. I was talking about sleeping!" He cried, tossing his hands up in the air. I barked out a laugh at his flustered appearance while Maggie giggled gleefully, her hands covering her mouth. I heard a hoarse chuckle and saw that Nicole was laughing as well, with Carl fighting back a smile. She looked up in the midst of her laughter, catching my gaze. I titled my head towards Glenn and rolled my eyes again, causing her to laugh more.

"Are we making fun of Glenn again?" Carol tossed out as she entered the room with a very relieved looking Lori following her.

"I feel attacked." Glenn claimed, clutching his chest dramatically.

"Oh, I think you'll live." Maggie chastised, elbowing him in the gut, earning a grunt from the young Korean.

"Who's gonna live?" Rick asked, closing the door behind him, as he was the last one to enter.

"Glenn." Nicole said casually, her smile still wide, her arm wrapped around Carl's shoulders.

Rick shit me a pointed look. "Was he ever in danger of actually dying?" Rick questioned, knowing I would give him a straight answer.

I stifled a laugh. "I don't think so, but I think his dignity made need time to recover."

"Hey!" Glenn whined, crossing his arms. I raised an eyebrow, daring him to make a comeback, but he just shook his head after a moment, sending a pouting look towards the ground.

"Well okay then….." Rick interrupted. "Good to know, I think? Everyone get yourselves set. We can rest for the rest of today, and tomorrow we get to work."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I laid out my sleeping bag at the top of the stairs, next to the window, where rain was gently hitting the glass. I could clearly see the entrance to the room, as well as the doorways to all the cells. From here, I could see almost everything, which put my mind slightlybat ease. Most people had taken cells on the first floor, except for T and Nicole, who had taken the closest two on the top level. T took it fue to lack of space. Nicole probably took it to get away from the rest of the sounded like something she would do.

I slowly shed my jacket and shoes, leaving them in a neat pile near my sleeping bag. I my weapons near my clothes, but within arm's reach, just in case anything happened. I laid down on top of the fabric, placing my head gingerly on the pillow, my back popping loudly. I closed my eyes and listened to the gentle sounds of the rain hitting the building.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I woke up to a bright light, bolting upright from my phone position of the floor. My hand instinctively went towards my loaded gun. I looked around wildly for the source of the noise, my eyes cloudy and my breathing heavy.

"It's okay." A quiet voice called. I spun on the floor towards the noise, but my breath caught in my throat at the sight in front of me. Nicole was huddeled in the corner, her temple resting against the window. Her blonde hair was loose and curly, hanging over her shoulders and cascading down the fron of her body. She had on her black nylon pants and a black tank top. Her small feet were bare and curled, tucked closely to her body. In the haze of the clouded moonlight, her tan skin glowed silvery, giving her the appearance of a ghost. Her blue eyes flicked towards me, offering a small smile. "It was just some lightning. It's been going on for the past hour or so."

I stared at her numbly, still awed by her angelic sappearance. I simply nodded slowly and mumbled "Oh."

She smiled again and her gaze returned to the window, the smile slipping from her face. She wrapped her arms around her knees, pulling them close to her chest, making her appear very small, very weak. In fact, was she shaking? Why wasn't she in bed?

"Cole?" I called weakly, putting my gun down carefully.

"Hm?" She responded, not looking away from the window.

"What are you doing out here?" I asked, slowly pulling myself from my sleeping bag, scooping up my poncho as I made my way towards her. She didn't look at me, even as I wrapped the poncho around her and slid down beside her. I didn't notice how she cringed when I touched her and tended up as I settled in.

"Just thinking." She mumbled, pulling the poncho a little more tightly around her.

"About what?" I pressed, not wanting to intrude, but wanting to help. God, I couldn't just let her sit here when she was obviously upset.

She was so quiet that I almost thought I had imagined it when she said "Cell D18."

"What?" I asked, looking at her.

"Cell D18." She looked down at her lap. "That was where he was. Just two buildings away, in cell D18. That's where.. that's where they kept him. The only reason I knew that was because my mother insisted on telling me. But I never went there. I couldn't go there. I mean, why should I have had to go there? I didn't want to see him."

I stared blankly for a moment, processing what she said. I spent a few moments trying to figure out what she was talking about when it hit me. "Marcus." I breathed, leaning back.

She nodded slightly, keeping her gaze down. "He was here, in this prison, in cell D18 for years. They moved him before the outbreak started but…. it's all I can think of. He was here. That monster, that bastard, that absolute pile of shit they called a person, was here." She chuckled dryly, but it was an unhappy sound, and painful, scratchy sound. "Funny how the universe works, isn't it?"

I scoffed, crossing my arms, "The universe is an asshole."

She chuckled, this time out of amusement. "Damn right."

"Is that why you came out here, to clear your head?" I questioned, titling my head slightly.

"Kind of." She sighed. Hesitantly, she looked up from her lap, her eyes slowly working their way up to my face. When our gazes connected, my heart broke at the pain in her gaze. Her body was trembling. "Do you remember what you said to me, right after you kissed me?"

I blushed slightly at the memory of my brashness, but nodded anyway.

"You told me that one of these days, my luck is gonna run out. And that when it does….. you told me that I don't think about people, about the consequences of my actions." she said timidly. My guilt grew exponentially in that moment as the harshness of my words hit me like a freight train.

"Nicole that was-" I started to apologize, but she cut me off, shaking her head.

"No. You were right." She sighed. I was slightly taken aback at her words, but stayed silent nonetheless. "I don't think about consequences. I don't think about the people I leave behind. I see and I do, there is no in between. But that's because, up until now. I haven't had anyone to think about. When the outbreak started, if I died, then the only person who would have noticed would be the walker that was feasting on me. That's it. My actions didn't matter. All that mattered was my survival. Mine and mine alone."

"What now?" I asked, placing a hand timidly on her knee. When she didn't back away, I let my hand relax.

"But now I have people. I have friends, I have family. I have a job and a purpose and a reason to be here. I have something to fight for. I have people to fight for. All of my actions lead back to you guys. What I do, affects you. And that… that terrifies me." She whispered, almost silent. Her hands were shaking in her lap, trembling pathetically.

"I can't screw this up." She sighed. "Not like I screwed up every other thing in my life. Not like the screw up I turned out to be. Marcus told me I was a screw up, and maybe he's right. Every good thing I have ever had falls apart. I'm a wrecking ball. I'm a walking disaster just waiting to happen. Maybe he was right about me. Maybe I should just-"

"Nicole." I whispered, my fingers running circles on her knee. "Nicole look at me." I sai a little more firmly. When she refused to look up, I reached out with my free hand and cupped her jaw, pulling it up. Her face was tear stained and pale, her eyes glazed and sad. "Listen to me. You are not a screw up. You are not a mistake. You are not worthless, or trash, or pathetic. You are amazing. You are talented. You are strong. You're the only person who makes me want to stop everything I'm doing for them. You are the only person who I could sit and talk to for hours. I don't care what some dumb-ass, useless, piece of shit of a man told you. You are so much more than all of that. And I will do as much as I can for as long as it takes to prove to you that you are worth so much more to us… to me."

She sniffled and looked at me, her bottom lip trembling.

"Are you sure about that?" She asked quietly, her tears landing on my hand. "God, I feel like such a pathetic mess." She laughed, the noise strained.

I smiled softly, placing my other hand on the other side of her face. "You're not pathetic. You're perfect."

"What?" Her voice was soft, almost as if she didn't believe my words.

"You are perfect." I said just as softly, before I closed the gap between us, my lips pressing against hers. Unlike our other kissed, this one wasn't passionate and fired up. It was soft, gentle, kind, comforting. Everything that we both wanted to say in this moment but couldn't. It was the perfect moment.

"What the fuck?" A startled voice behind us choked.

Okay, maybe not a perfect moment.


End file.
